NASCAR 2023: Starting lineup for Pala Casino 400 at Auto Club Speedway

After an action-packed Daytona 500, the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series arrived at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Fans were also eagerly awaiting the start of yet another exciting race this Sunday (February 26). The Pala Casino 400 will be live on FOX and MRN at 3:30 pm ET.

The second race of the 2023 NASCAR season will be contested on a two-mile-long low-banked, D-shaped superspeedway. The 36 drivers will compete over 200 laps in the race to secure a chance at driving down Victory Lane.

Motorsport journalist Bob Pockrass shared the starting line-up for Pala Casino 400 on his official Twitter account.

In Saturday’s rain washed out qualifying race, Christopher Bell, who finished P3 in last weekend’s Daytona 500 will start on the pole and will be joined by Daytona 500 winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on the front row.

The lineup was determined by the series rulebook’s qualifying metric, which means that Bell will start on pole due to his performance last week at Daytona International Speedway.

They will be followed by Joey Logano, Alex Bowman, and Chris Buescher rounding out the top-five. AJ Allmendinger, Daniel Suarez, Ross Chastain, Ryan Blaney, and Kevin Harvick completed the top-ten. The defending champion of the event, Kyle Larson, will start in the 15th starting position on Sunday.

Due to heavy rain on Saturday, NASCAR has also canceled the practice and qualifying sessions for both Xfinity and Cup Series. The governing body is continuously monitoring the weather forecast.

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2023 NASCAR Pala Casino 400 starting line-up

Here are the starting positions of the 36-car grid at Auto Club Speedway:

1. #20 Christopher Bell
2. #4 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
3. #22 Joey Logano
4. #48 Alex Bowman
5. #17 Chris Buescher
6. #16 AJ Allmendinger
7. #99 Daniel Suarez
8. #1 Ross Chastain
9. #12 Ryan Blaney
10. #4 Kevin Harvick
11. #51 Cody Ware
12. #7 Corey LaJoie
13. #11 Denny Hamlin
14. #19 Martin Truex Jr.
15. #5 Kyle Larson
16. #6 Brad Keselowski
17. #10 Aric Almirola
18. #23 Bubba Wallace
19. #2 Austin Cindric
20. #42 Noah Gragson
21. #8 Kyle Busch
22. #15 JJ Yeley
23. #54 Ty Gibbs
24. #21 Harrison Burton
25. #38 Todd Gilliland
26. #34 Michael McDowell
27. #41 Ryan Preece
28. #3 Austin Dillon
29. #31 Justin Haley
30. #78 BJ McLoed
31. #14 Chase Briscoe
32. #24 William Byron
33. #9 Chase Elliot
34. #43 Erik Jones
35. #45 Tyler Reddick
36. #77 Ty Dillon

Catch all NASCAR teams and drivers at the Auto Club Speedway for Pala Casino 400 on Sunday. The race will be broadcast on FOX and MRN.