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Martin Truex Jr. lands Busch Pole Award for Sunday's Dover race

Martin Truex Jr. lands Busch Pole Award for Sunday's Dover race

Martin Truex Jr. has claimed the Busch Pole Award for Sunday’s Drydene 400 (2 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Dover International Speedway.

Truex, who won last weekend’s event at Darlington Raceway, will start his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota from the pole position. Through 12 races, Truex is still the NASCAR Cup Series’ only multi-race winner in 2021. He’s at three victories.

RELATED: Dover weekend schedule | 2021 Cup Series standings

Daniel Hemric’s No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota is on the pole for Saturday’s Drydene 200 (1:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM) in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

As NASCAR adapted to COVID-19 protocols last season, practice and qualifying were eliminated at a majority of national-series events to limit at-track time, exposure and to cut race weekend costs. To determine starting lineups, competition officials used grouped draws, added inversions for weekend doubleheaders, and eventually adopted a performance-metrics formula. That metrics format remains in place this season, drawing on performance from both individual races and season-long results.

NASCAR’s metrics formula for 2021 weighs:

    • 25 percent: Driver’s finishing position from the previous race

    • 25 percent: Car owner’s finishing position from the previous race

    • 35 percent: Team owner points ranking

    • 15 percent: Fastest lap from the previous race

See the full lineup for Sunday’s Cup Series race below.

Start pos.

Driver

Car #

Team

1

Martin Truex Jr.

19

Joe Gibbs Racing

2

Denny Hamlin

11

Joe Gibbs Racing

3

William Byron

24

Hendrick Motorsports

4

Kyle Larson

5

Hendrick Motorsports

5

Kevin Harvick

4

Stewart-Haas Racing

6

Kyle Busch

18

Joe Gibbs Racing

7

Ryan Blaney

12

Team Penske

8

Chase Elliott

9

Hendrick Motorsports

9

Joey Logano

22

Team Penske

10

Chris Buescher

17

Roush Fenway Racing

11

Christopher Bell

20

Joe Gibbs Racing

12

Tyler Reddick

8

Richard Childress Racing

13

Ryan Newman

6

Roush Fenway Racing

14

Austin Dillon

3

Richard Childress Racing

15

Brad Keselowski

2

Team Penske

16

Alex Bowman

48

Hendrick Motorsports

17

Chase Briscoe

14

Stewart-Haas Racing

18

Matt DiBenedetto

21

Wood Brothers Racing

19

Ross Chastain

42

Chip Ganassi Racing

20

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

47

JTG Daugherty Racing

21

Michael McDowell

34

Front Row Motorsports

22

Bubba Wallace

23

23XI Racing

23

Erik Jones

43

Richard Petty Motorsports

24

Daniel Suarez

99

Trackhouse Racing Team

25

Ryan Preece

37

JTG Daugherty Racing

26

Corey LaJoie

7

Spire Motorsports

27

Anthony Alfredo

38

Front Row Motorsports

28

Kurt Busch

1

Chip Ganassi Racing

29

Josh Berry*

77

Spire Motorsports

30

Cole Custer

41

Stewart-Haas Racing

31

BJ McLeod

78

Live Fast Motorsports

32

Aric Almirola

10

Stewart-Haas Racing

33

James Davison

15

Rick Ware Racing

34

Cody Ware

51

Petty Ware Racing

35

Quin Houff

00

StarCom Racing

36

Garrett Smithley

53

Rick Ware Racing

37

Josh Bilicki

52

Rick Ware Racing

*Justin Haley was initially slated to compete in the No. 77 entry but will miss the race due to COVID-19 protocols.

Practice and qualifying are tentatively scheduled for eight Cup Series races this year. Busch Pole Qualifying was held for the season-opening Daytona 500, and rain canceled the qualifying races for Bristol Motor Speedway‘s dirt-track race. The next Cup Series event with qualifying scheduled is the May 23 debut at the Circuit of The Americas road course in Austin, Texas.