No. 22 NASCAR Ford To Start Third At Fontana 2023

Rain canceled on-track qualifying for the Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, meaning that the starting lineup was instead set by formula rather than speed. As such, Joey Logano’s No. 22 NASCAR Ford Mustang will start third, trailing the No. 20 Toyota TRD Camry of Christopher Bell and the 2023 Daytona 500 champion, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., in the No. 47 Chevy Camaro ZL1.

As a reminder, in the event that qualifying cannot be completed for any reason, the NASCAR Rule Book will instead set the Cup Series field using the following formula, which takes into account an individual driver’s performance in the previous race as well as their respective team’s results:

• Driver’s fastest lap time position (15 percent)
• Driver’s final race position (25 percent)
• Owner’s final race position (25 percent)
• Owner’s points position (35 percent)

While Logano’s No. 22 Mustang finished second in the Daytona 500, polesitter Bell’s No. 20 Camry had an overall more consistent performance during the race, followed by Stenhouse’s No. 47 Camaro. Logano’s No. 22 NASCAR Ford will start beside the No. 48 Camaro of Alex Bowman, who will take the green flag in in fourth. The No. 17 Mustang of Chris Buescher will round out the top five.

It’s worth noting that Sunday’s Cup Series race will be the final race held at Fontana’s two-mile oval configuration. Plans are in the works to tear the speedway down and reconfigure it into a short track similar to Martinsville Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway in the near future.

The green flag is scheduled to drop on the Cup Series race at Fontana on Sunday, February 26^th at 3:30 p.m. ET, weather permitting.

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

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