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Kyle Larson to start first for the fourth consecutive time at Sonoma
Hendrick drivers are starting 1-2-3 at Sonoma.
Coca-Cola 600 winner Kyle Larson will start first at Sonoma ahead of teammates Chase Elliott and William Byron. It's the fourth consecutive time that Larson has started first at Sonoma; he won the pole ahead of the 2017, 2018 and 2019 races at the track.
Those pole positions haven't led to great finishes, however. Larson has finished 26th, 14th and 10th in those three races. That 10th-place finish in 2019 is Larson's best at the road course.
There was no Sonoma race in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. Sunday's race (3 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1) is the first Cup Series race in the state of California in two years.
The starting lineup was also decided by NASCAR's qualifying formula because there is no practice or qualifying ahead of the race. The formula consists of a driver’s finishing position from the previous race (25%), the car owner’s finishing position from the previous event (25%), where the team is in owner points (35%) and the driver’s fastest lap from the previous race (15%). The driver with the lowest combined number starts first.
Starting lineup
1. Kyle Larson
2. Chase Elliott
3. William Byron
4. Denny Hamlin
5. Kyle Busch
6. Austin Dillon
7. Alex Bowman
8. Kevin Harvick
9. Brad Keselowski
10. Tyler Reddick
11. Ryan Blaney
12. Chris Buescher
13. Joey Logano
14. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
15. Bubba Wallace
16. Daniel Suarez
17. Matt DiBenedetto
18. Erik Jones
19. Martin Truex Jr.
20. Christopher Bell
21. Michael McDowell
22. Corey LaJoie
23. Cole Custer
24. Ryan Newman
25. Chase Briscoe
26. Aric Almirola
27. Ryan Preece
28. Anthony Alfredo
29. Ross Chastain
30. Kurt Busch
31. Ben Rhodes
32. James Davison
33. Quin Houff
34. Garrett Smithley
35. Scott Heckert
36. Josh Bilicki
37. Cody Ware
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