AVONDALE, Ariz. – Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott will start from the top spot during Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series championship-deciding round at Phoenix Raceway.
Elliott, who won his way into the Championship 4 last weekend at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, heads the title contenders going into the Season Finale 500. He earned the Busch Pole Award with the highest metric score among the four remaining playoff drivers.
The NASCAR matrix factors in a driver’s lap speed ranking from the previous race, the last race finish for both driver and owner and the car’s current rank in the owner standings.
Lap speed is weighted at 15 percent, previous race finish at 25 percent for the driver and owner results and owner points position at 35 percent to calculate the final metric score.
Driver and owner playoff-eligible entries are ranked at the front of the field based on their metric scores from lowest to highest, with all non-playoff entries lined up behind the playoff cars in similar fashion.
Elliott earned the pole with a metric score of 1.65, factoring in his Martinsville win, the third-fastest lap from that event and his second-place seeding in the point standings.
The Team Penske duo of Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski, along with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, fills out the front two rows for the 312-lap race at the one-mile desert oval.
Ryan Blaney starts best among the non-title contenders, rolling off fifth Sunday afternoon.
Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, repping a special chrome Ally paint scheme for his final start as a full-time driver, will roll off from the 26th position.
To view the complete starting lineup and performance matrix breakdown, click here.
The Season Finale 500 is scheduled for a 3 p.m. ET start Sunday, with live coverage on NBC, the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.