Advertisement

Talladega win means Brad Keselowski will start first at Kansas

Talladega win means Brad Keselowski will start first at Kansas

Brad Keselowski is the polesitter at Kansas.

Keselowski will start first on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1), thanks largely to his win at Talladega. Keselowski scored his first win of the season by beating Michael McDowell to the finish line in an overtime finish.

With no practice or qualifying ahead of Sunday's race, NASCAR's qualifying formula was used to set the lineup. The formula consists of a driver’s finishing position from the previous race (25 percent), the car owner’s finishing position from the previous event (25 percent), where the team is in owner points (35 percent) and the driver’s fastest lap from the previous race (15 percent). The driver with the lowest combined number starts first.

And that formula has given us the most intriguing starting lineup of the season because of what happened at Talladega. Points leader and betting favorite Denny Hamlin starts 20th. Joey Logano starts 29th. Kyle Larson starts outside the top 30.

That's the most variance we've seen in a formulaic starting lineup all season. It should make for an entertaining first stage as fast cars and drivers try to work their way to the front.

Starting lineup

1. Brad Keselowski

2. William Byron

3. Michael McDowell

4. Kevin Harvick

5. Matt DiBenedetto

6. Austin Dillon

7. Ryan Blaney

8. Christopher Bell

9. Kyle Busch

10. Cole Custer

11. Tyler Reddick

12. Ryan Preece

13. Bubba Wallace

14. Ryan Newman

15. Martin Truex Jr.

16. Chris Buescher

17. Chase Elliott

18. Aric Almirola

19. Chase Briscoe

20. Denny Hamlin

21. Daniel Suarez

22. Anthony Alfredo

23. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

24. Ross Chastain

25. Alex Bowman

26. Corey LaJoie

27. Erik Jones

28. Kurt Busch

29. Joey Logano

30. BJ McLeod

31. Justin Haley

32. Kyle Larson

33. Cody Ware

34. Quin Houff

35. Joey Gase

36. Garrett Smithley

37. Josh Bilicki

38. Austin Cindric

39. Matt Mills

More from Yahoo Sports: