Race number six on the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway, which is also scheduled to host the opening race of the new-look "Chase" playoffs in September.
The egg-shaped Darlington, South Carolina oval is a four-turn, 1.366-mile (2.198-kilometer) intermediate track, meaning that NASCAR is set to use its standard qualifying format to determine the 37-car starting lineup for Sunday's 297-lap race.
Each of the 37 drivers on the Goodyear 400 entry list is set to make a single-lap attempt during the single-car qualifying session, and those speeds are set to determine the full starting lineup; there is no second round shootout for the pole position like there is for superspeedway races, and there is no second qualifying lap like there is for short track races.
The qualifying order for Sunday afternoon's race was determined by the two-variable metric that NASCAR has used since the 2025 season.
This formula, which can be found in more detail here, replaced the more complicated formula that was used by NASCAR from 2020 to 2024, and it factors in each car's finish in the most recent race as well as its position in the owner standings.
The only change to the entry list since this past weekend's race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is the fact that Garage 66 are set to field the No. 66 Ford for the first time since the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. Timmy Hill is set to make his first start of the 2026 season.
Here's a look at the full qualifying order ahead of Saturday afternoon's qualifying session.
NASCAR Cup Series qualifying order at Darlington
Order | Driver |
|---|---|
1 | Timmy Hill, No. 66 Garage 66 Ford |
2 | Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet |
3 | Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
4 | Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
5 | Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford |
6 | Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
7 | Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
8 | Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
9 | Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet |
10 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet |
11 | Justin Allgaier, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
12 | Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
13 | Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota |
14 | Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
15 | Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford |
16 | A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
17 | Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
18 | John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
19 | Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
20 | Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
21 | Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
22 | Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
23 | Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
24 | Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford |
25 | Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
26 | Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford |
27 | Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford |
28 | Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford |
29 | Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota |
30 | Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
31 | Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford |
32 | Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota |
33 | Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
34 | Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
35 | William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
36 | Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
37 | Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
The Goodyear 400 is set to be shown live on Fox Sports 1 from Darlington Raceway starting at 3:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, March 22. If you have not yet started a free trial of FuboTV, do so now and don't miss it!
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