NASCAR’s formula for determining race starting grid put Chase Elliott on the pole for Sunday’s Season Finale 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway. But after two failed attempts to get his car through pre-race inspection Sunday, Elliott will have to drop to the back for the initial green flag to start the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season-finale.
Elliott is one of four drivers in contention for the 2020 Cup Series championship at Phoenix, the other three being Team Penske teammates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin. Those three drivers will retain their starting positions inside the top-four, or first two rows.
Hamlin failed pre-race inspection once, but there is no penalty for a single pre-race inspection failure.
The highest finisher among the four drivers will be the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion. Neither Elliott nor Hamlin have won a title in NASCAR’s premier series. Keselowski is the 2012 champion, and Logano won the title in 2018.
Logano won at Phoenix early in the season, while Hamlin is the defending winner of the fall race at the track. Regular-season champion Kevin Harvick, who was eliminated from championship contention Nov. 1 at Martinsville Speedway is the winningest driver at Phoenix with nine victories.
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