The start of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series "Chase" postseason has already continued a trend that was prevalent throughout a good portion of the regular season, with qualifying for Sunday's Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway rained out on Saturday afternoon.
It marked the sixth oval qualifying session to be canceled due to rain in 2026, meaning that the starting lineup for Sunday's 367-lap race around the four-turn, 1.366-mile (2.198-kilometer) egg-shaped Darlington, South Carolina oval was set by the qualifying metric.
While the starting lineups for races without qualifying are generally determined by the reverse order of the qualifying order, that is not the case during the postseason.
When it comes time to set the qualifying order for playoff races, NASCAR still uses the same qualifying metric (30% owner standings, 70% result in most recent race), but the playoff drivers are not slotted in until after all of the non-playoff drivers, guaranteeing that those still eligible to win the championship qualify at the end of the line.
But when qualifying is canceled, NASCAR simply puts all drivers in one group, rather than two, and reverses the order, based on the metric, meaning that the 16 playoff drivers will not all start in the top 16 in Sunday's race. In other words, they don't simply reverse the qualifying order.
23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick is set to lead the field to the green flag, alongside Spire Motorsports' Daniel Suarez, but there are eight non-playoff drivers in the top 16. Spire Motorsports' Michael McDowell is the first of those eight in fifth.
RFK Racing's Chris Buescher is set to start 35th, the lowest of the 16 drivers still in title contention.
Here's a look at the full starting lineup for Sunday's Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
Southern 500 starting lineup at Darlington
Order | Driver |
|---|---|
1 | Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota |
2 | Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
3 | Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford |
4 | Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
5 | Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
6 | Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford |
7 | Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
8 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet |
9 | Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
10 | Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
11 | Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
12 | Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford |
13 | Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford |
14 | Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford |
15 | Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota |
16 | Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet |
17 | Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota |
18 | Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
19 | John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
20 | William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
21 | Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
22 | Corey Heim, No. 67 23XI Racing Toyota |
23 | Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
24 | Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford |
25 | Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
26 | Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
27 | Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
28 | Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
29 | Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
30 | A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
31 | Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
32 | Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
33 | Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
34 | Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
35 | Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford |
36 | Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
37 | Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet |
38 | Chad Finchum, No. 66 Garage 66 Ford |
Tune in to USA Network at 5:00 p.m. ET for the live broadcast of the Cook Out Southern 500 from Darlington Raceway as the first NASCAR Cup Series "Chase" postseason action since 2013 gets underway!
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