Chase Elliott won the Busch Pole Award for Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 253 at Daytona International Speedway’s Road Course.
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 | Martin Truex Jr. | 19 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 20 | Justin Haley | 77 | Spire Motorsports |
| 21 | Cody Ware | 51 | Petty Ware Racing |
| 22 | William Byron | 24 | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 23 | Josh Bilicki | 52 | Rick Ware Racing |
| 24 | Tyler Reddick | 8 | Richard Childress Racing |
| 25 | Garrett Smithley | 53 | Rick Ware Racing |
| 26 | Aric Almirola | 10 | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| 27 | Ryan Blaney | 12 | Team Penske |
| 28 | Scott Heckert | 78 | Live Fast Motorsports |
| 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.