William Byron starts on the pole for this 208-lap event
Charlotte Motor Speedway wraps up four races in four days with Wednesday night's Alsco Uniforms 500 for the NASCAR Cup Series. It's a sprint race compared to Sunday, the sport's longest race of the year, as teams will only run 208 laps around the 1.5-mile oval.
After experimenting with qualifying for Sunday's Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR is reverting back to special qualifying rules due to minimizing on-track time with the COVID-19 pandemic. The top-20 finishers from Sunday's race have been inverted, meaning Sunday's winner Brad Keselowski will start Wednesday night from the 20th position.
The 21st-place finisher on back from the Coca-Cola 600 will start Wednesday night's race from the same spot. In the case of Jimmie Johnson, who was disqualified after finishing second Sunday night, he'll be placed dead last in the 40-car field.
There were no additional entries for Wednesday's race and all teams are returning. That means the grid will remain at 40 cars with William Byron starting from the pole.
1. William Byron
2. Alex Bowman
3. Michael McDowell
4. Matt DiBenedetto
5. John Hunter Nemechek (R)
6. Aric Almirola
7. Austin Dillon
8. Joey Logano
9. Cole Custer (R)
10. Erik Jones
11. Chris Buescher
12. Christopher Bell (R)
13. Tyler Reddick (R)
14. Kurt Busch
15. Martin Truex Jr.
16. Kevin Harvick
17. Kyle Busch
18. Ryan Blaney
19. Chase Elliott
20. Brad Keselowski
21. Reed Sorenson
22. Ryan Preece
23. Corey Lajoie
24. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
25. Ty Dillon
26. Matt Kenseth
27. Ryan Newman
28. Daniel Suarez
29. Denny Hamlin
30. Brennan Poole (R)
31. JJ Yeley (i)
32. BJ McLeod (i)
33. Garrett Smithley (i)
34. Timmy Hill (i)
35. Quin Houff (R)
36. Joey Gase (i)
37. Josh Bilicki (i)
38. Bubba Wallace
39. Clint Bowyer
40. Jimmie Johnson
(R) – Rookie
(i) – Ineligible to collect Cup Series points
QUALIFYING NOTES
- William Byron (1st) won the pole here for last year’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. However, this one doesn’t count toward the 2021 Busch Clash due to NASCAR’s qualifying rules.
- Michael McDowell (3rd) has the best starting position of his 13-year Cup Series career (328 starts).
- Rookie John Hunter Nemechek (5th) has the best starting spot of his young Cup career. (10 starts). It’s the first time Front Row Motorsports has put two cars in the top 5 in Cup Series qualifying.
- Reed Sorenson (21st) replaces Ross Chastain for this race behind the wheel of the Spire Motorsports Chevrolet. Sponsorship is coming from AquestaBank.
- JJ Yeley (31st) moves back to the No. 27 Ford, replacing Gray Gaulding after his two-race sponsorship deal with Panini America.
- Josh Bilicki (37th) moves to the Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet which is making its third start of the season, all since the COVID-19 quarantine was lifted. He replaces JJ Yeley.
- Jimmie Johnson (40th) will remain at the back of the field after his Hendrick Motorsports team chose not to appeal his Sunday DQ due to his rear alignment failing post-race inspection.
NASCAR RACE BREAKDOWN
Race: Alsco Uniforms 500
Track: Charlotte Motor Speedway
Date: Wednesday, May 27
Time: 8:25 p.m. ET
TV: FS1, 6 p.m. ET
Radio: PRN, SIRIUS XM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 500 kilometers (228 laps)
Stage 1: 55 Laps
Stage 2: 60 Laps
Final Stage: 93 Laps
PRE-RACE ANALYSIS
