Editor's note: The contents of this article have been modified from their original state to reflect Kyle Busch's tragic passing.
Following a week off from points racing, the NASCAR Cup Series is set for the 13th official points race on the 26-race regular season schedule this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The annual Coca-Cola 600 is the longest race on the schedule, with drivers set to attempt to complete 400 laps around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) oval in Concord, North Carolina. No other scheduled race distance is more than 500 miles.
Saturday's single-car qualifying session is set to feature just one round, and each driver is set to get one single timed qualifying lap. There is no second round shootout for the pole position featuring the fastest 10 drivers from round one like there is for superspeedway races.
NASCAR's two-variable qualifying metric, which replaced the old four-variable metric that had been used from 2020 to 2024, determined the full qualifying order.
A full breakdown of this metric can be found here.
Make note of the fact that the variables involved in this weekend's formula are based on the most recent points race at Watkins Glen International two weekends ago, not the most recent race, the exhibition All-Star Race at Dover Motor Speedway, this past weekend.
The only lineup changes since the Dover race include the additions of the No. 66 Garage 66 (MBM Motorsports) Ford for Timmy Hill, the No. 67 23XI Racing Toyota for Corey Heim, and the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet for Katherine Legge. Dover did not feature any non-chartered (open) cars.
The other change sadly took place at Richard Childress Racing, which announced that O'Reilly Auto Parts Series driver Austin Hill would be behind the wheel of the No. 8 Chevrolet after Kyle Busch was hospitalized with a severe illness.
On Thursday night, hours after that confirmation was made, the announcement came that Busch had tragically passed away.
The No. 8 has been changed to No. 33 out of respect for Busch, and the No. 8 is now set to be reserved for Busch's 11-year-old son Brexton, if Brexton manages to climb through the ranks and reach NASCAR's top level.
The team had also initially been planning on running the non-chartered No. 33 Chevrolet for fellow O'Reilly Series driver Jesse Love but had previously opted not to do so earlier in the week. Based on what we know, including the timing of the entry list's release, that decision was not directly tied to Busch's situation.
Note that the tragic situation surrounding the No. 8 car did not impact the qualifying order, as the two variables involved in the qualifying metric are based on the car/team, rather than the driver.
Here's a look at Saturday's full qualifying order for Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
NASCAR Cup Series qualifying order at Charlotte
Order | Driver |
|---|---|
1 | Corey Heim, No. 67 23XI Racing Toyota |
2 | Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet |
3 | Katherine Legge, No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet |
4 | Josh Bilicki, No. 66 Garage 66 Ford |
5 | Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
6 | Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford |
7 | Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford |
8 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet |
9 | William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
10 | Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota |
11 | Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
12 | Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
13 | Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
14 | Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford |
15 | Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
16 | Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota |
17 | Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
18 | Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet |
19 | Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
20 | Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
21 | Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
22 | Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
23 | Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
24 | Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
25 | John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
26 | Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
27 | Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
28 | Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford |
29 | Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
30 | A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
31 | Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
32 | Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford |
33 | Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford |
34 | Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford |
35 | Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
36 | Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
37 | Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
38 | Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
39 | Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota |
The Coca-Cola 600 is the first of five NASCAR Cup Series races set to be shown live on Amazon Prime Video this year. Live coverage from Charlotte Motor Speedway is scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, May 24. Don't miss the final race of the 2026 regular season's first half!
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