AVONDALE, Ariz. – Brad Keselowski will start from the Busch Pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event at Phoenix Raceway based on a tiebreaker from the metric qualifying formula.
It’s the first time since the implementation of the performance-based formula due to COVID-19 protocols and a lack of qualifying that a tie for the pole has occurred.
Keselowski and Kyle Larson tied for the Busch Pole Award by having the highest metric score among the 38 cars entered to compete. Keselowski earned the official honors by virtue of being higher in the Cup Series owner point standings than Larson.
The duo each had a metric score of 2.0, with Keselowski’s score factoring in his second-place finish at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway, the second-fastest lap from the event and his runner-up seeding in the point standings after four of 36 races this season.
Larson’s score factored in his win at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway, the third-fastest lap from the event and his third-place seeding in the point standings after three of 36 races this season.
Lap speed is weighted at 15 percent, previous race finish at 25 percent each for the driver and owner results and owner points position at 35 percent to calculate the final metric score.
Larson will join Keselowski on the front row, with Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell and Martin Truex Jr rolling off third through fifth, respectively.
Defending series champion Chase Elliott, the most recent Phoenix winner in the Cup Series, starts sixth Sunday, followed by Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano and William Byron.
Nine-time Phoenix winner Kevin Harvick, who won four races in a row at one time at the one-mile desert oval, starts 18th in the No. 4 Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing.
To view the full starting lineup and metric performance breakdown, click here.
Sunday’s Instacart 500 goes green at 3:30 p.m. ET, live on FOX, the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.
It will mark the 50th Cup Series race all time at Phoenix.