Five NASCAR Cup Series oval qualifying sessions have been rained out already in 2026, and with Friday's set to take place in Florida in late August, it could very well become the sixth.
AccuWeather is calling for thunderstorms this afternoon and into the early evening in Daytona Beach, and the qualifying session for Saturday's 160-lap Coke Zero Sugar 400 around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked oval is scheduled to take place at 5:00 p.m. ET.
In the event that qualifying is canceled, the full 40-car starting lineup would be determined by the same qualifying metric that generally determines qualifying orders, but it would be reversed to reward top performers.
This metric is based on two factors: each car's finish in the most recent race (70%), as well as its position in the owner standings (30%).
We do want to stress that it would be a 40-car lineup, not a 41-car lineup, even though there are 41 cars on this weekend's entry list. None of the five non-chartered (open) cars on the Coke Zero Sugar 400 entry list competed this past weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, so the owner standings would determine which four get in and which does not.
Here's how the starting lineup would look for Saturday's regular season finale, if Friday's qualifying session is rained out.
Daytona NASCAR starting lineup if qualifying is canceled
Order | Driver |
|---|---|
1 | Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford |
2 | Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
3 | Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
4 | Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
5 | Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
6 | Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota |
7 | Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota |
8 | Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford |
9 | Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford |
10 | Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford |
11 | Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford |
12 | Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford |
13 | Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford |
14 | Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
15 | Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
16 | Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
17 | Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
18 | Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
19 | Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
20 | Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
21 | Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
22 | Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
23 | Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
24 | A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
25 | William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
26 | Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet |
27 | Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
28 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet |
29 | Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
30 | Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
31 | Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
32 | John Hunter Nemechek, No. 40 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
33 | Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
34 | Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet |
35 | Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota |
36 | Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
37 | Corey Heim, No. 67 23XI Racing Toyota |
38 | Gray Gaulding, No. 66 Garage 66 Ford |
39 | Daniel Dye, No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet |
40 | Joey Gase, No. 44 NY Racing Team Chevrolet |
DNQ | Casey Mears, No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet |
TruTV is set to air qualifying beginning at 5:00 p.m. ET later today, weather permitting. The Coke Zero Sugar 400 itself is set to be shown live on NBC from Daytona International Speedway starting at 7:30 p.m. ET tomorrow evening, so start your free trial of FuboTV now and catch all of the action!
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