Qualifying results set starting grid for Atlanta race

Given that we’re approaching the first Saturday night race of the Cup Series season, this semi-rare blast of Friday qualifying might’ve snuck up on you.

If so, no problem, because we have your lineup for Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 at the newly renamed EchoPark Speedway, formerly known as Atlanta Motor Speedway.

And it’ll be Joey Logano leading the field to green. He didn’t exactly win Friday’s qualifying. He actually tied, right down to the far-right decimal points, with Josh Berry.

Both Logano and Berry toured the 1.54-mile quad-oval in 30.979 seconds for an average speed of 178.960 mph. In such cases, the running order is determined by points, and Logano is ahead of Berry in points this season, so he’ll start on the inside of Row 1, with Berry outside his right window.

And you know how we always tell you not to put too much stock in the starting lineup?

Well, this time, we really, really mean it, because the running order will be changing constantly when TNT debuts its five-week run of Cup racing, following five weeks on Amazon’s Prime Video.

Atlanta got too fast for its own good and a few years ago NASCAR instituted restricted horsepower for the track’s two races each year, and those restrictions equalize the field and lead to big packs of drafting traffic. Buckle up.

As a side attraction starting this week, it’s Week 1 (of five) of NASCAR’s inaugural In-Season Challenge, which includes 32 drivers, 16 head-to-head matchups Saturday, and yes, a bracket. It’ll take the next five races to whittle that bracket from 32 to 16 to 8 to 4 to 2 — the two finalists will go bumper-to-bumper at the July 27 Brickyard 400 for a $1 million first prize.

Starting lineup for Quaker State 400

1. Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford (30.979 seconds)
2. Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford (30.979)
3. Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford (30.983)
4. Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford (31.037)
5. Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford (31.130)
6. Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford (31.153)
7. Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford (31.155)
8. Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford (31.160)
9. Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet (31.203)
10. Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (31.210)
11. Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet (31.237)
12. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet (31.242)
13. Chris Buescher, No. 17 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford (31.247)
14. Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet (31.265)
15. Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet (31.284)
16. Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (31.298)
17. Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford (31.302)
18. William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet (31.310)
19. John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota (31.315)
20. Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota (31.315)
21. AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet (31.329)
22. Justin Haley, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet (31.329)
23. Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota (31.331)
24. Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota (31.353)
25. Corey Lajoie, No. 01 Rick Ware Racing Ford (31.356)
26. Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota (31.358)
27. Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford (31.376)
28. Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (31.405)
29. Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet (31.407)
30. Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet (31.409)
31. Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet (31.446)
32. Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet (31.462)
33. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (31.463)
34. Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet (31.484)
35. Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet (31.485)
36. Connor Zilisch, No. 87 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet (31.500)
37. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 HYAK Motorsports Chevrolet (31.537)
38. BJ McLeod, No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet (31.550)
39. Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford (31.564)
40. David Starr, No. 66 Garage 66 Ford (34.113)

Time and channel for all weekend NASCAR racing

Friday: 7:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series, Focused Health 250 (CW).

Saturday: 9:30 a.m.: Truck Series qualifying from Lime Rock (FS1); 1 p.m.: Truck Series, LiUNA! 150, from Lime Rock (Fox); 4 p.m.: ARCA Series race from Lime Rock (FS2); 7 p.m.: Cup Series, Quaker State 400 (TNT).