Three drivers are set to drop to the rear of the field before the start of Sunday afternoon's YellaWood 500 NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway.
Haas Factory Team's Cole Custer and Hyak Motorsports' Ricky Stenhouse Jr. are set to drop to the tail end of the outside lane after qualifying 20th and 24th, respectively, due to unapproved adjustments.
Kaulig Racing's Ty Dillon is set to drop to the tail end of the outside lane after qualifying 30th, and he is also set to serve a driver-through penalty on the race's first green flag lap after the No. 10 team made an adjustment after inspection.
TDillon to the rear and will have a drive through after green for an adjustment after inspection. Stenhouse and Custer to the rear for general unapproved adjustment (unapproved in the sense if you do it, you go to the rear).
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) October 25, 2026
All drivers who had been lined up to start behind any of these three drivers in the outside lane are set to move up at least one row. Nobody who qualified in an odd-numbered position and is thus set to start on the inside lane is affected by these penalties.
Custer is now set to line up 36th, ahead of Stenhouse in 38th and Dillon in 40th. Two playoff drivers are notably set to move up, with Spire Motorsports' Carson Hocevar moving from 26th to 22nd and Team Penske's Austin Cindric moving from 28th to 24th.
Here's an updated look at the starting lineup for today's 188-lap race around the four-turn, 2.66-mile (4.281-kilometer) high-banked oval in Lincoln, Alabama.
Updated NASCAR Cup Series lineup at Talladega
Order | Driver |
|---|---|
1 | Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
2 | Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
3 | Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
4 | Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
5 | Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford |
6 | Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
7 | Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
8 | Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
9 | Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
10 | Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
11 | Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet |
12 | Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
13 | Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
14 | Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota |
15 | Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
16 | Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford |
17 | William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
18 | Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
19 | Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford |
20 | Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford |
21 | Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford |
22 | Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
23 | Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
24 | Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford |
25 | Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota |
26 | John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
27 | Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford |
28 | Casey Mears, No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet |
29 | Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
30 | Daniel Dye, No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet |
31 | Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
32 | Joey Gase, No. 44 NY Racing Team Chevrolet |
33 | Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota |
34 | Gray Gaulding, No. 66 Garage 66 Ford |
35 | Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
36 | Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet |
37 | A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
38 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet |
39 | Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
40 | Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
NBC's live coverage of the YellaWood 500 from Talladega Superspeedway is set to begin at 2:00 p.m. ET this afternoon. Begin a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss any of the action from the antepenultimate race on the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series playoff schedule!
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