CONCORD, N.C. – Kevin Harvick will start the second round of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs from the pole on Sunday afternoon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Harvick topped NASCAR’s performance matrix based on his victory last weekend at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, where he also set the second fastest lap of the race and maintained his position at the top of the Cup Series point standings.
The starting lineup was determined by NASCAR’s metric qualifying formula, which 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.
Kyle Busch, who is still chasing his first victory of the season at NASCAR’s top level, will join Harvick on the front row of the South Point 400 at the 1.5-mile speedway.
Chase Elliott will start third in the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, followed by Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola, Team Penske’s Joey Logano, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Clint Bowyer, Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon, Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kurt Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. and Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski.
View the entire starting lineup below.
