After the first set of back-to-back NASCAR Cup Series races without any open (non-chartered) cars since June 2024, there are three on the entry list for this Sunday afternoon's Bank of America Roval 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
NY Racing Team have added the No. 44 Chevrolet for B.J. McLeod, who owns Live Fast Motorsports, Garage 66 have added the No. 66 Ford for Gray Gaulding, who hasn't run a Cup race since June 2023, and 23XI Racing have added the No. 67 Toyota for Corey Heim, who is set to make the 11th of his 12 scheduled starts this year before moving to a full-time role in 2027.
All three are locked into Sunday's 267-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Concord, North Carolina oval, unlike at Daytona International Speedway in August when Gaulding failed to qualify because there were five drivers going for the four open spots.
Those three drivers are set to lead off Saturday's qualifying session, provided it doesn't get canceled due to rain. The qualifying order was determined by the metric (30% owner standings, 70% results of the most recent race), although the 16 playoff drivers were not factored in until the 23 non-playoff drivers all slotted in, to ensure that those with championship aspirations are the last 16 to qualify.
If qualifying ends up being canceled, the metric would simply be used to set the full 39-car starting lineup in reverse order, and drivers would not be split up into playoff driver/non-playoff driver groups.
Here's a look at Saturday's qualifying order at Charlotte.
NASCAR Cup Series qualifying order at Charlotte
Order | Driver |
|---|---|
1 | B.J. McLeod, No. 44 NY Racing Team Chevrolet |
2 | Gray Gaulding, No. 66 Garage 66 Ford |
3 | Corey Heim, No. 67 23XI Racing Toyota |
4 | Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
5 | Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet |
6 | Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
7 | Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
8 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet |
9 | Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
10 | Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet |
11 | John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
12 | Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
13 | Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford |
14 | Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
15 | Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
16 | Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
17 | Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford |
18 | Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota |
19 | Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
20 | Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
21 | A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
22 | Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
23 | Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
24 | Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford |
25 | Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
26 | Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
27 | Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
28 | Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford |
29 | Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
30 | Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
31 | Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
32 | Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota |
33 | Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford |
34 | William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
35 | Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford |
36 | Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford |
37 | Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota |
38 | Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
39 | Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
Sunday's Bank of America 400, the first oval playoff race at Charlotte Motor Speedway since 2017, is set to be shown live on USA Network beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET. Don't miss any of the action from playoff race six of 10 on this year's schedule!
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