CONCORD, N.C. -- Kyle Larson will lead the NASCAR Cup Series field to the green flag for Sunday's Round of 8 playoff race at Kansas Speedway.
Larson earned his front-runner starting position after leading 256 laps at Texas Motor Speedway last Sunday before winning his eighth points-paying race in the 2021 Cup Series season.
Chase Elliott will roll off the grid fifth as the defending Cup Series champion looks to keep his playoff dreams alive. William Byron will start ninth just outside of the eight playoff drivers after his runner-up finish in Texas. Alex Bowman rounds out the Hendrick Motorsports brigade and will roll off the grid 25th at Kansas.
The starting lineup was set based on the metrics formula from last season. It applies the data from the driver's finishing position of the last race (25%), the car owner's finishing position from the last race (25%), team owner points ranking (35%) and the fastest lap from the previous race.
For the playoffs, the metrics for the eight drivers in the hunt for the 2021 Cup Series championship will be calculated for the first eight spots in the field followed by the remaining Cup drivers.
Take a look below at the starting lineup for the second race in the Round of 8 at Kansas Speedway. The event will begin Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN.
- Kyle Larson
- Ryan Blaney
- Brad Keselowski
- Kyle Busch
- Chase Elliott
- Denny Hamlin
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Joey Logano
- William Byron
- Christopher Bell
- Kevin Harvick
- Tyler Reddick
- Kurt Busch
- Austin Dillon
- Matt DiBenedetto
- Daniel Suarez
- Erik Jones
- Michael McDowell
- Chase Briscoe
- Aric Almirola
- Chris Buescher
- Cole Custer
- Corey LaJoie
- Ross Chastain
- Alex Bowman
- BJ McLeod
- Bubba Wallace
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Anthony Alfredo
- Josh Bilicki
- Ryan Newman
- Ryan Preece
- Justin Haley
- Ryan Ellis
- Quin Houff
- Cody Ware
- Chad Finchum
- David Starr
- Joey Gase
- Parker Kligerman