Sheldon Creed will lead the Talladega Truck starting lineup to the green flag in Saturday’s playoff race.
Creed led a race-high 89 laps last week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway before finishing second to Austin Hill. That win moved Hill to the next round of the playoffs.
Hill will start Saturday’s race second. Zane Smith, Grant Enfinger and Chandler Smith will follow him.
Click here for starting lineup
The race is the final event in the first round. Two drivers will be eliminated. Ben Rhodes is six points behind Christian Eckes for the final transfer spot. Todd Gilliland trails Eckes by 19 points.
Eckes starts sixth, Gilliland starts 10th and Rhodes starts 11th.
“We’re gonna go in there and be aggressive,” Gilliland said. “If we wreck trying to go for the win, I think we can live with ourselves on that, whereas other guys that might be able to let someone in and still make it on points, those guys are gonna be looking behind them and worrying about points this whole week. For us, it’s pretty simple. There’s no one behind us. We can only move forward from here if we do our job right.”
The Talladega Truck starting lineup is set by using a formula based on four statistical categories: owner points position, owner final race position, the finish and fastest lap from the most recently completed race.
Performance Metrics Qualifying is a total number based on the previous race. The formula is 15% of a fastest lap time position, 25% of the driver’s final race finish position, 25% of the owner’s final race position and 35% of the owner points position. Any ties will be broken by the rule book.
NASCAR Cup Series at Talladega
Race time: 1 p.m. ET, Saturday
Track: Talladega Superspeedway; Talladega, Alabama (2.66-mile speedway)
Length: 94 laps (250.04 miles)
Stages: Stage 1 ends Lap 20. Stage 2 ends Lap 40.
TV coverage: FS1
Radio: Motor Racing Network (also SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Streaming: NBC Sports app (subscription required); mrn.com and SiriusXM for audio (subscription required)
Lineup: Click here for starting lineup
Next Xfinity race: Saturday at Talladega (113 laps, 300.58 miles), 4:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN
Next Cup race: Sunday at Talladega (188 laps, 500 miles), 2 p.m. ET on NBC