CONCORD, N.C. – Kevin Harvick will start the second round of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs from the pole on Sunday afternoon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Harvick topped NASCAR’s performance matrix based on his victory last weekend at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, where he also set the second fastest lap of the race and maintained his position at the top of the Cup Series point standings. The starting lineup was determined by NASCAR’s metric qualifying formula, which factors in a driver’s lap speed ranking from the previous race, the last race finish for both driver and owner and the car’s current rank in the owner standings. Lap speed is weighted at 15 percent, previous race finish at 25 percent for the driver and owner results and owner points position at 35 percent to calculate the final metric score.

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