NASCAR lineup at Pocono: Starting order, pole for Saturday’s race without qualifying

The starting lineup for Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway, the very first race of a weekend doubleheader at the Pennsylvania track, was set by applying the statistical formula NASCAR utilizes for the majority of the series races in 2021.

NASCAR returned to the formula after holding qualifying last weekend at Nashville Superspeedway.

Motorists’ beginning positions for the Pocono Organics CBD 325 (3 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TSN2, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) were based upon four elements:

• Motorists are ending up in position from the previous race (25 percent).
• Automobile owner’s completing position of the last race (25 percent).
• Team owner points ranking (35 percent).
• Fastest lap of the primary race (15 percent).

NASCAR is conducting qualifying and practice for just eight Cup Series races in the 2021 season. The remaining sessions will be held at Roadway America, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway roadway course, and Phoenix. Road America and the Indy road course are brand-new tracks on NASCAR’s Cup schedule, and Phoenix is the site of the season-ending Champion 4 race.

Below is the beginning lineup, which was set without qualifying, for Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series race on Pocono Raceway’s 2.5-mile tri-oval.

Who won the pole for the NASCAR Saturday race at Pocono?

Kyle Larson will lead the field to the green flag Saturday. The Hendrick Motorsports motorist is the most popular wheelman on the planet, with wins in three successive points-paying races and success in the All-Star Race exhibition sandwiched in between them. Larson is 2nd in the season point standings, simply 10 points behind leader Denny Hamlin.

Colleague William Byron will be beside Larson on the front row Saturday. Byron completed third at Nashville and is 3rd in the point standings.

The remainder of the top 10: Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Kurt Busch, Christopher Bell, and Hamlin.

Larson’s pole task gave him the No. 1 pit stall position Saturday.

NASCAR beginning lineup at Pocono.

NASCAR utilized a mathematical formula to set the starting lineup for Saturday’s race at Pocono Raceway, the Pocono Organics CBD 325, without qualifying.

The beginning grid for Sunday’s race, the Explore the Pocono Mountains 350, will be set differently: NASCAR will invert the order of the leading 20 finishers in Saturday’s race, indicating the race winner will begin 20th and the 20th-place finisher will start on the pole Sunday. The bottom 18 finishers in the 38-car field (21st through 38th) Saturday will be appointed to the very same positions Sunday.