NASCAR at Talladega: Starting lineup for the 2021 GEICO 500
Still looking for his first win of 2021, Denny Hamlin will start on the pole at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend.
The NASCAR Cup Series now has eight winners through nine races after last weekend’s race at Richmond Raceway, won by Alex Bowman, who picked up his third career win and first of the 2021 season. And if there’s any track on the schedule that could produce an unexpected winner, it’s Talladega Superspeedway.
NASCAR returns to the legendary 2.66-mile track for Sunday’s GEICO 500 (2 p.m. ET, FOX). And, despite not being among the eight winners so far this year, Denny Hamlin’s consistency strong performance this season landed him on the pole again.
But the starting lineup wasn’t determined through qualifying. Because of the challenges related to racing during the COVID-19 pandemic, most race weekends will not include practice or qualifying sessions. So in the absence of qualifying, NASCAR determines the starting lineup with a formula based on these factors:
- 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
Here’s the starting lineup for Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.
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