The 16-driver NASCAR Cup Series "Chase" postseason field is set to be solidified after Saturday night's Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
There are 41 cars on the entry list for this 160-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona Beach, Florida oval, meaning that one driver will ultimately fail to qualify for the regular season finale. Just two other non-Daytona 500 races since November 2018 have featured entry lists with more than 40 cars.
The order for Friday's qualifying session was determined by NASCAR's qualifying metric, which is based on each car's position in the owner standings (30%) and its finish in the most recent race (70%). This metric has been in place since the start of the 2025 season.
There were six total changes to the entry list since this past weekend's race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Five are the additions of the non-chartered (open) cars, since the Loudon race featured none, and the other is the fact that John Hunter Nemechek's Legacy Motor Club Toyota is once again set to use the No. 42, after it used the No. 40 for sponsorship purposes in New Hampshire.
With the 36 chartered cars all locked into the race, the battle for the four remaining spots is set to feature the five open cars, and those five cars are set to lead off Friday's single-car qualifying session.
The qualifying session is set to consist of two rounds: round one with all 41 cars on the entry list, and round two with the top 10 from the first round to battle for the pole position, as is the case for all superspeedway races.
Here's a look at the full order for Friday's Coke Zero 400 qualifying session at Daytona International Speedway.
Coke Zero Sugar 400 NASCAR qualifying order at Daytona
Order | Driver |
|---|---|
1 | Casey Mears, No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet |
2 | Joey Gase, No. 44 NY Racing Team Chevrolet |
3 | Daniel Dye, No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet |
4 | Gray Gaulding, No. 66 Garage 66 Ford |
5 | Corey Heim, No. 67 23XI Racing Toyota |
6 | Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
7 | Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota |
8 | Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet |
9 | Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
10 | John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
11 | Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
12 | Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
13 | Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
14 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet |
15 | Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
16 | Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet |
17 | William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
18 | A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
19 | Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
20 | Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
21 | Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
22 | Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
23 | Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
24 | Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
25 | Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
26 | Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
27 | Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
28 | Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
29 | Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford |
30 | Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford |
31 | Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford |
32 | Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford |
33 | Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford |
34 | Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford |
35 | Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota |
36 | Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota |
37 | Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
38 | Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
39 | Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
40 | Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
41 | Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford |
Tune in to NBC at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, August 28 for the live broadcast of the Coke Zero Sugar 400 from Daytona International Speedway. Start your free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss any of the action during the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale!
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