The NASCAR Cup Series has yet to run a non-superspeedway race in 2026, but after races at Daytona International Speedway and EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway) to open up the season, that is set to change this weekend with the first of the season's four non-oval races.
Circuit of the Americas (COTA), which has been on the calendar since 2021, is set to host Sunday's DuraMAX Grand Prix.
After utilizing the Austin, Texas road course's full 20-turn, 3.41-mile (5.488-kilometer) layout from 2021 to 2024, NASCAR switched to the shorter 17-turn, 2.4-mile (3.862-kilometer) layout a year ago, and that's the layout that is set to be used again.
There have been three changes to the entry list since this past weekend's race at Atlanta, which you can find in more detail here.
The qualifying order was determined by the standard qualifying metric, which was introduced ahead of the 2025 season. A full metric breakdown can be found here.
For road and street course races, however, the metric only matters in terms of splitting the drivers into two groups. The drivers with the higher (worse) metric scores are in the first group, which is allocated 20 minutes of track time to qualify, while the drivers with the lower (better) metric scores are in the second group, which is also allocated 20 minutes.
The results of the two groups are simply combined to determine the full starting lineup; those with the lower metric scores should theoretically have an advantage due to the improvement in track conditions from the first group to the second.
Here are Saturday's qualifying groups for Sunday's DuraMAX Grand Prix at COTA.
NASCAR Cup Series qualifying groups at COTA
Group A
1 - Jesse Love, No. 33 No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
2 - Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
3 - Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
4 - Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
5 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet
6 - Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
7 - Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
8 - Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota
9 - Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
10 - Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
11 - Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet
12 - Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
13 - Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
14 - Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
15 - Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet
16 - Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
17 - William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
18 - Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
19 - John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
Group B
20 - Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
21 - Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
22 - Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford
23 - Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
24 - A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
25 - Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford
26 - Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford
27 - Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford
28 - Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford
29 - Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
30 - Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
31 - Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford
32 - Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
33 - Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
34 - Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
35 - Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
36 - Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
37 - Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
The DuraMAX Grand Prix is set to be shown live on Fox from Circuit of the Americas beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET this Sunday, March 1. Start a free trial of FuboTV today and catch all of the action from COTA!