Image by Russell LaBounty/Motorsport Images
Keselowski draws pole for Darlington re-opener
Brad Keselowski will start from the pole Sunday afternoon at Darlington Raceway by way of a random draw.
With on-track qualifying not taking place, the starting line-up for The Real Heroes 400 was completed Thursday evening through a draw. The draw was conducted by NASCAR Chief Scorer Kyle McKinney at the NASCAR R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina, using a bingo cage during the “Race Hub” broadcast on Fox Sports 1.
Polesitter Keselowski won the Southern 500 at Darlington in 2018. He is joined on the front row by Alex Bowman, who won at Fontana earlier this season. Matt DiBenedetto, Kyle Busch, and Aric Almirola completed the top five.
Points leader and former Darlington winner Kevin Harvick starts from the sixth position. With pit stall selection also going by points, Harvick -- through the decision of his Stewart-Haas Racing team -- will have the first pit stall at the exit of pit road.
Matt Kenseth will roll off in the 12th position in his return to the NASCAR Cup Series. Kenseth is the new driver of the No. 42 for Chip Ganassi Racing.
Also making a return this weekend is Ryan Newman, who missed three races after his last-lap crash in the Daytona 500. Newman will start 21st.
The picks were done in groups of 12. Positions 1-12 were drawn for teams in those positions in owner points. The same was done for positions 13-24, followed by positions 25-36. Positions 37-40 were determined for open teams in order of owner points.
Darlington is the sport’s first race since early March because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It will be the fifth race of the NASCAR Cup Series season.
1. Brad Keselowski
2. Alex Bowman
3. Matt DiBenedetto
4. Kyle Busch
5. Aric Almirola
6. Kevin Harvick
7. Ryan Blaney
8. Jimmie Johnson
9. Joey Logano
10. Denny Hamlin
11. Chase Elliott
12. Matt Kenseth
13. Clint Bowyer
14. Cole Custer
15. Martin Truex Jr.
16. Austin Dillon
17. Darrell Wallace Jr.
18. William Byron
19. Corey LaJoie
20. Erik Jones
21. Ryan Newman
22. Kurt Busch
23. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
24. Chris Buescher
25. Ryan Preece
26. Garrett Smithley
27. Quin Houff
28. Christopher Bell
29. Tyler Reddick
30. JJ Yeley
31. Michael McDowell
32. Joey Gase
33. Ty Dillon
34. John Hunter Nemechek
35. Brennan Poole
36. Reed Sorenson
37. Daniel Suarez
38. Timmy Hill
39. BJ McLeod
40. Josh Bilicki
Kelly Crandall
Kelly has been on the NASCAR beat full-time since 2013, and joined RACER as chief NASCAR writer in 2017. Her work has also appeared in NASCAR.com, the NASCAR Illustrated magazine, and NBC Sports. A corporate communications graduate from Central Penn College, Crandall is a two-time George Cunningham Writer of the Year recipient from the National Motorsports Press Association.
Read Kelly Crandall's articles
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