The NASCAR Cup Series’ final race in the Round of 16 is at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, Sept. 19. Brad Keselowski will lead the field to green at the half-mile track.
The No. 2 Team Penske driver snagged the pole after winning last week’s event at Richmond Raceway and posting the fastest lap of the night.
His teammate Joey Logano starts on the front row as well, while Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick lineup behind them. Austin Dillon, who had a strong run last Saturday, rounds out the top five.
Chase Elliott starts sixth, and Truex’s Joe Gibbs Racing cohort Denny Hamlin begins seventh. Elliott’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman is eighth, Kyle Busch is ninth and Aric Almirola completes the top 10 starters.
The lineup is based on four weighted metrics: driver’s finish from previous race (25%), team owner’s finish (25%), fastest lap (15%) and owner’s points position (15%). The front 16 starters are those in the playoffs.
12 drivers will move on to the next round by the end of the evening.
Cup Starting Lineup for Bristol
The Bass Pro Shops Night Race begins on Saturday, Sept. 19 at 7:30 p.m. ET and will air on NBC Sports Network and Performance Racing Network).
Joy joined Frontstretch in 2019 as a NASCAR DraftKings writer, expanding to news and iRacing coverage in 2020. She's currently an assistant editor and involved with photos, social media and news editing. A California native, Joy was raised watching motorsports and started watching NASCAR extensively in 2001. She earned her B.A. degree in Liberal Studies at California State University Bakersfield in 2010.
Finish Order: 2 19 22 3 9 18 4 10 88 14 8 11 1 41 95 42
Owner Points: 4 11 2 22 19 3 9 88 18 10 1 14 41 21 12
Start Order: 2 22 19 4 3 9 11 88 18 10 14 41 1 12 24 21
The nerve of the 8, 95 and 42 to mess with the chosen ones (for now). I’m sure NA$CAR is trying to keep the riff-raff from the chosen ones. It will be so much easier in the last example of “the product.”