Chase Elliott has won the Busch Pole Award for Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 253 at Daytona International Speedway’s Road Course (3 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Elliott’s No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet will start from the pole position with Daytona 500 champion Michael McDowell in the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford sharing the front row in the 40-car field.
Additionally, Brett Moffitt won the pole for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race and Ben Rhodes will start up front for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race.
RELATED: Daytona Road Course schedule | 2021 Cup Series standings
As NASCAR adapted to COVID-19 protocols last season, practice and qualifying were eliminated at a majority of national-series events to limit at-track time, exposure and to cut race weekend costs. To determine starting lineups, competition officials used grouped draws, added inversions for weekend doubleheaders, and eventually adopted a performance-metrics formula. That metrics format remains in place this season, drawing on performance from both individual races and season-long results.
NASCAR’s metrics formula for 2021 weighs:
- 25 percent: Driver’s finishing position from the previous race
- 25 percent: Car owner’s finishing position from the previous race
- 35 percent: Team owner points ranking
- 15 percent: Fastest lap from the previous race
See the full lineup for Sunday’s Cup Series race below.
Start pos. |
Driver | Car # | Team |
1 | Chase Elliott | 9 | Hendrick Motorsports |
2 | Michael McDowell | 34 | Front Row Motorsports |
3 | Austin Dillon | 3 | Richard Childress Racing |
4 | Denny Hamlin | 11 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
5 | Kevin Harvick | 4 | Stewart-Haas Racing |
6 | Ryan Preece | 37 | JTG Daugherty Racing |
7 | Corey LaJoie | 7 | Spire Motorsports |
8 | Kyle Larson | 5 | Hendrick Motorsports |
9 | Ross Chastain | 42 | Chip Ganassi Racing |
10 | Bubba Wallace | 23 | 23XI Racing |
11 | Joey Logano | 22 | Team Penske |
12 | Christopher Bell | 20 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
13 | Cole Custer | 41 | Stewart-Haas Racing |
14 | Kyle Busch | 18 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
15 | Brad Keselowski | 2 | Team Penske |
16 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 47 | JTG Daugherty Racing |
17 | Kurt Busch | 1 | Chip Ganassi Racing |
18 | Chase Briscoe | 14 | Stewart-Haas Racing |
19 | BJ McLeod | 78 | Live Fast Motorsports |
20 | Joey Gase | 53 | Rick Ware Racing |
21 | Martin Truex Jr. | 19 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
22 | Justin Haley | 77 | Spire Motorsports |
23 | Cody Ware | 51 | Petty Ware Racing |
24 | William Byron | 24 | Hendrick Motorsports |
25 | Josh Bilicki | 52 | Rick Ware Racing |
26 | Tyler Reddick | 8 | Richard Childress Racing |
27 | Aric Almirola | 10 | Stewart-Haas Racing |
28 | Ryan Blaney | 12 | Team Penske |
29 | Quin Houff | 00 | StarCom Racing |
30 | Chris Buescher | 17 | Roush Fenway Racing |
31 | Anthony Alfredo | 38 | Front Row Motorsports |
32 | Matt DiBenedetto | 21 | Wood Brothers Racing |
33 | Ryan Newman | 6 | Roush Fenway Racing |
34 | AJ Allmendinger | 16 | Kaulig Racing |
35 | Daniel Suarez | 99 | Trackhouse Racing Team |
36 | Alex Bowman | 48 | Hendrick Motorsports |
37 | Erik Jones | 43 | Richard Petty Motorsports |
38 | Ty Dillon | 96 | Gaunt Brothers Racing |
39 | James Davison | 15 | Rick Ware Racing |
40 | Timmy Hill | 66 | Motorsports Business Management |
Practice and qualifying are tentatively scheduled for eight Cup Series races this year. Busch Pole Qualifying was held for the season-opening Daytona 500; the next race with time trials scheduled is the March 28 event at Bristol Motor Speedway’s dirt track.
Read More: Chase Elliott wins Busch Pole Award for Daytona Road Course