The starting grid for Saturday’s race at Bristol, scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. ET and broadcast live on NBCSN, features some of this season’s top drivers at the front of the field. It is the result of a relatively new formula that takes into account finishing position from the previous race, team owner points standings and the fastest lap from the previous race to set the lineup.
MORE: Updated 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule
As for pit stall selection for the NASCAR Cup Series races being run without qualifying, it is ordered based on the same formula. Which means the pole sitter for Saturday night’s race (more on him below) also had the first pit stall selection.
Below is the starting lineup for Saturday night’s NASCAR race at Bristol and how it was set.
Who won the pole for the NASCAR race at Bristol?
Brad Keslowski won last week’s race at Richmond in relatively dominating fashion. That, in addition to his second-place standing in points, is why he earned the pole position for Saturday’s Bristol night race.
Keselowski will be joined on the front row by his Team Penske teammate, Joey Logano, who finished third last week and sits fourth in points. Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick will line up behind the Penske drivers in Row 2.
Below is the formula for how the Cup Series field was set at Bristol:
35 percent: Ranking in team owner points 25 percent: Driver’s position from previous race 25 percent: Team owner’s position from previous race 15 percent: Fastest lap from previous race
NASCAR starting lineup at Bristol
Saturday night’s race at Bristol is just the sixth to use NASCAR’s new formula for setting the starting lineup without qualifying (and the third to use it since NASCAR tweaked the finishing position portion of the formula). The same procedure will be used through the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
As for the starting lineup for Saturday night’s NASCAR race at Bristol, below is the field the formula created:
