For the second consecutive NASCAR Cup Series race, there are no non-chartered (open) cars on the entry list, a streak that hadn't been seen at any point in a season since June 2024 and that hadn't been seen during any portion of a playoff schedule since October and November 2023.
Only the 36 full-time cars are set to compete in Sunday's 267-lap South Point 400 around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
And lo and behold, we started the race weekend with some surprising news: there might actually be qualifying in Las Vegas, Nevada, after it was canceled due to inclement weather on back-to-back weekends at Bristol Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway.
For the first time since the race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway three weekends ago, NASCAR's qualifying metric is actually set to determine the qualifying order, rather than the starting lineup.
The formula is based 30% on the owner standings and 70% on the results of the most recent race. When the formula is used to determine the qualifying order, the non-playoff drivers are all slotted in first, to guarantee that the 16 playoff drivers are the last 16 drivers to qualify.
When qualifying is canceled, however, it's just the metric; the drivers are not split up and thus the playoff drivers are not guaranteed to start inside the top 16. But we're not going to worry about that this week, unless a 0% chance of rain somehow becomes 100%.
Here's what the qualifying order is set to look like ahead of this afternoon's South Point 400 qualifying session.
NASCAR Cup Series qualifying order at Las Vegas
Order | Driver |
|---|---|
1 | Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet |
2 | Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
3 | Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford |
4 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet |
5 | Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet |
6 | Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
7 | Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
8 | Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
9 | Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
10 | Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota |
11 | Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
12 | A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
13 | Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
14 | Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
15 | Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
16 | Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
17 | Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
18 | John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
19 | Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
20 | Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford |
21 | Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
22 | Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford |
23 | Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford |
24 | Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
25 | Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
26 | Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford |
27 | Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota |
28 | Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
29 | Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota |
30 | William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
31 | Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
32 | Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
33 | Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford |
34 | Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford |
35 | Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
36 | Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
USA Network's live coverage of the South Point 400 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway is set to begin at 5:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 4. Don't miss the fifth race on the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series postseason schedule!
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