NASCAR: Chase Elliott Secures Pole Position Ahead of O’Reilly Auto Parts 253

Sunday afternoon, the NASCAR Cup Series season will continue with a return trip to Daytona International Speedway. The drivers will head to the road course for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 253 and will follow the defending champion to the starting line. Chase Elliott has secured the pole position ahead of Sunday’s race.

Fox Sports’ Bob Pockrass revealed the starting lineup on Wednesday, confirming that the Hendrick Motorsports driver will lead the field to green. Michael McDowell, the winner of the Daytona 500, will join him on the front row. Elliott has found considerable success on road courses in his career, including a win during August’s GoBowling 235 at Daytona. He will look to win once again and return to the playoffs.

Austin Dillon and Denny Hamlin will both line up on the second row after strong finishes in the season-opening race. Hamlin won two stages before ultimately finishing fifth and locking up 52 points. Dillon finished third and added 48 points. Kevin Harvick and Ryan Preece, who finished fourth and sixth respectively, will line up on the third row.

With the Daytona 500, the NASCAR drivers will go back to the 2020 format regarding the starting lineup. There will not be any practice laps or qualifying sessions. Instead, NASCAR will determine the order based on a formula it implemented amid COVID-19. The driver’s finishing position from the previous race and the car owner’s finishing position from the previous race each account for 25% of the formula. The team owner’s points ranking accounts for 35%. Finally, the fastest lap from the previous race makes up the final 15%.

Prior to Sunday’s race, two special guests will conduct pre-race duties virtually. Kevin James, the star of Netflix’s The Crew, will serve as grand marshal for the fourth time and tell the drivers to start their engines. CeCe Winans, the best-selling and most-awarded female gospel artist of all-time, will perform the national anthem before the race.

The O’Reilly Auto Parts 253 will take place Sunday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway’s Road Course. The race will air at 3 p.m. ET while Fox will provide coverage. MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will broadcast the radio call. Fans will hope for a race that ends in a matter of hours after rain and lightning delayed the Daytona 500 by nearly six hours.