CONCORD, N.C. – The starting lineup has been set for NASCAR’s return to competition at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway on Sunday afternoon.
Brad Keselowski, in the No. 2 Ford Mustang for Team Penske, will lead the field to the green flag for The Real Heroes 400. He’ll be joined on the front row at the 1.366-mile oval by Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman.
The remainder of the top-10 starters are Matt DiBenedetto in third, followed by Kyle Busch, Aric Almirola, Kevin Harvick, Ryan Blaney, Jimmie Johnson, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin.
Matt Kenseth, making his first start since the 2018 season finale, will start 12th. Ryan Newman, who will be competing in his first event since a violent crash in the season opening Daytona 500, will start 21st.
The field was set via a random draw, which was televised live on NASCAR Race Hub on FS1 Thursday afternoon. Positions 1-12 were set by a random draw from teams in those positions in the owner points. The same was done for positions 13-24 and 25-36. Positions 37-40 were filled out by non-charted teams in order of owner points.
The random draw was overseen by NASCAR Director of Scoring Kyle McKinney.
Starting Lineup for the NASCAR Cup Series The Real Heroes 400, scheduled for Sunday, May 17 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.
1. Brad Keselowski
2. Alex Bowman
3. Matt DiBenedetto
4. Kyle Busch
5. Aric Almirola
6. Kevin Harvick
7. Ryan Blaney
8. Jimmie Johnson
9. Joey Logano
10. Denny Hamlin
11. Chase Elliott
12. Matt Kenseth
13. Clint Bowyer
14. Cole Custer
15. Martin Truex Jr.
16. Austin Dillon
17. Bubba Wallace
18. William Byron
19. Corey LaJoie
20. Erik Jones
21. Ryan Newman
22. Kurt Busch
23. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
24. Chris Buescher
25. Ryan Preece
26. Garrett Smithley
27. Quin Houff
28. Christopher Bell
29. Tyler Reddick
30. J.J. Yeley
31. Michael McDowell
32. Joey Gase
33. Ty Dillon
34. John Hunter Nemechek
35. Brennan Poole
36. Reed Sorenson
37. Daniel Suarez
38. Timmy Hill
39. B.J. McLeod
40. Josh Bilicki