The NASCAR Cup Series playoffs begin their Round of 12 this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Kyle Larson is on the pole for Sunday’s (Sept. 26) South Point 400.

Larson wheeled his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to victory last week at Bristol Motor Speedway, edging out Kevin Harvick within the final few laps.

Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney will line up in second next to Larson on the front row, while Larson’s teammate William Byron slots in third. Martin Truex Jr. and Harvick round out the top-five starting positions.

Truex’s teammate Denny Hamlin will begin the race from sixth with Alex Bowman seventh. Blaney’s Penske cohorts Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano take up the eighth and ninth spots while Kyle Busch completes the top 10.

Chase Elliott and Christopher Bell will line up in 11th and 12th as the remaining playoff contenders. All NASCAR championship-eligible drivers are guaranteed to start up front under the sport’s off-track qualifying format.

Performance metrics were used to calculate the starting lineup: 50% of the metric is derived from a driver and car owner’s finishing position from Bristol (25% each), 15% is for where the driver ranked with their fastest lap and 35% is where the car ranks in owner points. The results are added up to form a total: the lowest number starts on the pole, then the next lowest, etc. until all spots are filled.

Cup Starting Lineup for Las Vegas

The race will air on Sunday, Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network.

Joy Tomlinson

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.