May 15 (UPI) — Brad Keselowski didn’t need to start his engine to claim the pole for Sunday’s the Real Heroes 400 race. He claimed the role of starter after NASCAR performed a random draw.
The draw was held Thursday at the NASCAR Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C. Alex Bowman will also line up his No. 88 Chevrolet in the front row and start second Sunday at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, S.C.
The Cup Series stars will race in their first event since the NASCAR season was suspended in mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic. No fans will be allowed to attend the event.
Matt DiBenedetto, Kyle Busch, Aric Almirola, Kevin Harvick, Ryan Blaney, Jimmie Johnson, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin round out the top-10 starters for Sunday’s 400-mile event.
Matt Kenseth will come out of retirement and start in the No. 12 spot. Ryan Newman will start 21st in his first race since he was hospitalized after a wreck in February’s Daytona 500.
Positions 1 through 12 were determined from a field of chartered teams in the top-12 in team owner points. Positions 13 through 24 and 25 through 36 were determined in the same fashion for those respective fields. Positions 37 through 40 were filled out by open, non-chartered teams.
Harvick leads the Cup Series standings by one point over Logano. Chase Elliott — who will start 11th — is in third place. Bowman and Johnson round out the top-5 in the Cup Series standings.
Keselowski sits in 10th place and has two top-10 finishes and one top-5 finish in four starts.
The Real Heroes 400 will start at 3:30 p.m. EDT Sunday on Fox.
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