In 2020, amid the extended absence of practice and qualifying, NASCAR abandoned random draws and instead decided to set starting lineups via a new four-variable metric.
Factored into the formula were the car owner's rank in the owner standings (35%), the driver's finish in the most recent race (25%), the car owner's finish in the most recent race (25%), and the rank of the driver's fastest lap in the most recent race (15%).
For drivers in the same car from week to week, the two categories weighted at 25% were effectively combined into one category weighted at 50%.
That formula was kept in place to determine the qualifying order once qualifying returned, and it was also kept in place to determine the starting lineup in the event that qualifying was canceled due to bad weather.
But NASCAR quietly changed the metric this past offseason.
As some fans have recently pointed out, the math was not adding up in recent qualifying orders. That is because the metric is no longer the same in year number six as it was from 2020 to 2024.
With the driver who records the fastest lap during a race now awarded one bonus point via the new Xfinity Fastest Lap program, fastest lap is no longer factored into the metric.
Additionally, the weight of the owner standings rank has been decreased from 35% to 30%. The remaining 70% is all based on the car owner's finish in the most recent race, regardless of who was behind the wheel.
If a car was not present in the previous race, 41st place is used as the metric value when the formula is used to calculate the metric score.
All things considered, the new metric makes things a lot simpler and easier to understand. It was a fitting time for the change to be implemented, given the fact that NASCAR also greatly simplified the qualifying format this past offseason. A full explanation of the new and relatively straightforward format can be found here.