The NASCAR Cup Series is coming off of the first of its two scheduled off weekends on the 2026 calendar, as the series did not race on Easter Sunday.
Two weeks after the race at Martinsville Speedway, the Cup Series is set to be back in action on another short track this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Because the four-turn, 0.533-mile (0.858-kilometer) high-banked Bristol, Tennessee oval is considered a short track, each of the 37 drivers on the entry list is allowed to take two qualifying laps, rather than just one, although those who prefer one can stick to one; there is no penalty for not running a second lap.
The qualifying order was determined by the two-variable formula that NASCAR introduced ahead of the 2025 season, after modifying the old four-variable metric that had been used from 2020 to 2024 to make things easier. A full breakdown of the current metric can be found here.
Unlike on superspeedways, there is no second round shootout for the pole position on short tracks; the results of the first round of qualifying are set to determine the full 37-car starting lineup for Sunday's 500-lap race.
A total of three driver lineup changes have been made since the Martinsville race. Alex Bowman has returned to the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet after missing four races with vertigo; Justin Allgaier had replaced him in each of the most recent three.
As far as the non-chartered (open) cars go, the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet is not on the entry list after Austin Hill drove it at Martinsville, while the No. 66 Garage 66 Ford is. Chad Finchum is set to drive it after Timmy Hill drove it in its most recent appearance at Darlington Raceway three weekends ago.
Here's a look at the full qualifying order for Saturday's Food City 500 qualifying session.
NASCAR Cup Series qualifying order at Bristol
Order | Driver |
|---|---|
1 | Chad Finchum, No. 66 Garage 66 Ford |
2 | Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
3 | Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota |
4 | Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet |
5 | Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet |
6 | Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
7 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet |
8 | Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota |
9 | Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
10 | Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
11 | John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
12 | Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
13 | Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
14 | A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
15 | Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
16 | Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
17 | Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
18 | Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
19 | Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
20 | Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
21 | Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
22 | Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford |
23 | Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
24 | Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford |
25 | Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford |
26 | Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
27 | Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford |
28 | Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford |
29 | Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota |
30 | Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
31 | Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
32 | Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford |
33 | William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
34 | Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford |
35 | Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
36 | Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
37 | Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
Tune in to Fox Sports 1 at 3:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, April 12 for the live broadcast of the Food City 500 from Bristol Motor Speedway. Take advantage of FuboTV's trial offer today and watch for free!