After back-to-back superspeedway races and a road course race to open up the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, the first "regular" oval race is scheduled to take place at Phoenix Raceway this Sunday afternoon.
The four-turn, 1.022-mile (1.645-kilometer) Avondale, Arizona oval is also scheduled to be the host of the Championship 4 title decider, so Sunday's 312-lap Shriners Children's 500 is one of the regular season's most important races for the drivers and teams with championship aspirations.
Qualifying is different on non-superspeedway ovals this year than it was last year. The four-variable metric is still used (full formula explained here), but there are no groups – and thus no row-by-row designations – and no second round shootout for the pole position.
Drivers qualify in reverse metric order, with each getting a single lap in the single-car session, and those lap speeds determine the full starting lineup.
NASCAR Cup Series qualifying order at Phoenix
1 - Katherine Legge, No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet
2 - Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
3 - Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
4 - Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford
5 - Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
6 - Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford
7 - Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford
8 - A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
9 - Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
10 - Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
11 - Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
12 - Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford
13 - Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
14 - Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
15 - Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
16 - Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
17 - Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
18 - John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
19 - Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford
20 - Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota
21 - Justin Haley, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
22 - Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
23 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet
24 - Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
25 - Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford
26 - Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford
27 - Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
28 - Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
29 - Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
30 - Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
31 - Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford
32 - Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
33 - Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
34 - Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
35 - Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
36 - Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
37 - William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Tune in to Fox at 3:30 p.m. ET this Sunday, March 9 for the live broadcast of the Shriners Children's 500 from Phoenix Raceway. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss it!