In possibly the most bizarre qualifying run ever seen, Austin Dillon won the pole for the Auto Club 400 without running a lap.
All of the drivers were waiting to run their final lap in the third round of qualifying and no one wanted to be the first off the line. With the new system of qualifying, drivers can be on the track in close proximity and they like to use that to their advantage to gain a draft.
But in hopes of getting a draft, no one wanted to get off the line and by the time they started to try to make their runs with less than a minute on the clock, they were too late.
No one made it to the line to start an official run and Dillon won by virtue of the fact he posted the fasted time in the second round.
Kevin Harvick will start second and Aric Almirola will be third.
Brad Keselowski (13th) and Kyle Larson (15th) failed to make it to the final round of qualifying.
Defending champion Martin Truex Jr. struggled and will start in 27th.
The Auto Club 400 can be seen at 3:30 p.m. EST on Sunday on FOX.
Auto Club 400 starting lineup
Here is the starting lineup for Sunday’s race:
| Starting | Driver | Number |
| No. 1 | Austin Dillon | 3 |
| No. 2 | Kevin Harvick | 4 |
| No. 3 | Aric Almirola | 10 |
| No. 4 | Kyle Busch | 18 |
| No. 5 | Joey Logano | 22 |
| No. 6 | Denny Hamlin | 11 |
| No. 7 | Ryan Newman | 6 |
| No. 8 | Chase Elliott | 9 |
| No. 9 | Clint Bowyer | 14 |
| No. 10 | Ryan Blaney | 12 |
| No. 11 | Jimmie Johnson | 48 |
| No. 12 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 17 |
| No. 13 | Brad Keselowski | 2 |
| No. 14 | Chris Buescher | 37 |
| No. 15 | Kyle Larson | 42 |
| No. 16 | Ty Dillon | 13 |
| No. 17 | Daniel Hemric | 8 |
| No. 18 | Erik Jones | 20 |
| No. 19 | David Ragan | 38 |
| No. 20 | Daniel Suarez | 41 |
| No. 21 | Kurt Busch | 1 |
| No. 22 | William Byron | 24 |
| No. 23 | Alex Bowman | 88 |
| No. 24 | Matt DiBenedetto | 95 |
| No. 25 | Paul Menard | 21 |
| No. 26 | Ryan Preece | 47 |
| No. 27 | Martin Truex Jr. | 19 |
| No. 28 | Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr. | 43 |
| No. 29 | Michael McDowell | 34 |
| No. 30 | Corey Lajoie | 32 |
| No. 31 | Ross Chastain | 15 |
| No. 32 | Matt Tifft | 36 |
| No. 33 | Landon Cassill | 00 |
| No. 34 | Cody Ware | 51 |
| No. 35 | Reed Sorenson | 27 |
| No. 36 | BJ McLeod | 52 |
| No. 37 | Garrett Smithley | 77 |
| No. 38 | Joey Gase | 66 |
What channel is the Auto Club 400 on?
The Auto Club 400 will be broadcast nationally on FOX. The race can also be livestreamed on the Fox Sports Go app or by subscribing to fuboTV, which offers a seven-day free trial.
Auto Club 400 schedule, how to watch
All of the events leading up to the week, including practices and races for the Xfinity Series, can be seen on NASCAR.com, PRN, MRN and FS1.
Here’s a daily schedule of events leading up to the Auto Club 400 .
(All times Eastern)
Friday, March 15
| Time | Event | Channel |
| 1 p.m. | Cup Series First Practice | NASCAR.com |
| 2:05 p.m. | Xfinity Series First Practice | NASCAR.com |
| 4:35 p.m. | Xfinity Series Final Practice | FS1 |
| 6:30 p.m. | Cup Series qualifying | FS1/MRN |
Saturday, March 16
| Time | Event | Channel |
| 12:05 p.m. | Cup Series Second Practice | FS1/MRN |
| 1:10 p.m. | Xfinity Series qualifying | FS1 |
| 3:30 p.m. | Cup Series Final Practice | FS1/MRN |
| 5 p.m. | Production Alliance Group 300 | FS1/MRN |
Sunday, March 17
| Time | Event | Channel |
| 3:30 p.m. | Auto Club 400 | FOX/MRN |
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