NASCAR Cup Series qualifying rainouts have been somewhat of a theme as of late, with only one qualifying session for a points-paying oval race having taken place over the past month.
The weather forecast for Saturday at the four-turn, 1.333-mile (2.145-kilometer) Nashville Superspeedway oval is not exactly ideal either, which could result in the second consecutive qualifying rainout.
While the Indy 500 showed that AccuWeather is not always accurate, the current forecast calls for 55% chance of precipitation. Roughly two hours of precipitation are expected, with variable cloudiness and thunderstorms expected both throughout the morning and afternoon.
Practice is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. ET, followed by qualifying at 5:40 p.m. ET.
If qualifying is indeed rained out for Sunday night's 300-lap Cracker Barrel 400, the 38-car starting lineup would be determined by the qualifying metric, which is typically used to determine the qualifying orders.
That metric is a two-variable metric which was developed by NASCAR before the 2025 season as a simpler alternative to the four-variable formula that was used from 2020 to 2024. A full breakdown of the current metric can be found here.
Note that when it comes to the metric determing starting lineups, the would-be qualifying order is effectively reversed, since lower metric scores are better than higher metric scores.
Here's what Sunday night's Cracker Barrel 400 starting lineup would look like if Saturday's qualifying session gets rained out.
Nashville NASCAR Cup lineup if no qualifying
Order | Driver |
|---|---|
1 | Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
2 | Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota |
3 | Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
4 | Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
5 | Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
6 | Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
7 | Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford |
8 | William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
9 | Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford |
10 | Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
11 | Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
12 | Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford |
13 | Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
14 | Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
15 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet |
16 | A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
17 | Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
18 | Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota |
19 | Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
20 | Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet |
21 | Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
22 | Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford |
23 | Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota |
24 | Corey Heim, No. 67 23XI Racing Toyota |
25 | Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
26 | Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
27 | John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
28 | Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford |
29 | Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
30 | Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
31 | Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
32 | Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
33 | Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford |
34 | Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet |
35 | Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
36 | Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford |
37 | Chad Finchum, No. 66 Garage 66 Ford |
38 | Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
Sunday's weather forecast also calls for afternoon thunderstorms, but the race is scheduled to be a night race.
Amazon Prime Video's live coverage of the Cracker Barrel 400 is set to begin at 7:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 31. Don't miss any of the action from the start of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series regular season's second half at Nashville Superspeedway!
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