Fords Starting Top Three At Atlanta 2022 After Nascar Qualifying Cancelled

All on-track action scheduled for Friday, March 18^th at Atlanta Motor Speedway was cancelled due to weather, prompting Nascar to allocate Saturday for practice sessions only and eliminate this weekend’s Cup Series qualifying session. Instead, the starting lineup for the race on Sunday, March 20^th, 2022 was set using the formula introduced for the 2020 season in response to COVID-19 restrictions.

Chase Briscoe, winner of last week’s race at Phoenix, will start on the pole position in the No. 14 Next Gen Ford Mustang. Second is last week’s polesitter Ryan Blaney in the No. 12 Mustang, followed by Joey Logano in the No. 22 Mustang. Kyle Busch in the No. 18 Toyota TRD Camry will start fourth while Tyler Reddick, No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, will start fifth.

Nascar uses three competition-based performance metrics to set starting lineups in the absence of qualifying sessions. Overall championship points position, the finish and fastest lap from the last race are weighted and averaged to determine the starting order. Points positions are weighted at 35 percent, finishing position at 50 percent, and fastest race lap is 15 percent.

The upcoming race at Atlanta Motor Speedway marks the first time Cup Series cars have been on-track since it was reconfigured and repaved last year. The reconfiguration increased the banking to 28 degrees in all four turns, making the 1.54-mile speedway the steepest intermediate track on the schedule. Additionally, new drainage technology was implemented, and the track now has fresh asphalt to boot.

The Ford Mustang’s first win in the Nascar Cup Series was achieved at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2019, with Brad Keselowski behind the wheel.

Weather permitting, the race will go green on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.

• # – Rookie
• i – Points ineligible
• * – Part-time driver

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