Richmond Raceway lost one of its two NASCAR Cup Series race dates for just the second time since 1958 this year, and the other occurrence in 2020 only happened because the schedule had to be modified late due to pandemic-related restrictions.
Saturday night's Cook Out 400 is scheduled to be a 400-lap race around the four-turn, 0.75-mile (1.207-kilometer) Richmond, Virginia short track, and it is the 25th of 26 races on the regular season schedule, making it extremely important for drivers still looking to solidify their playoff spots and/or bolster their playoff seeding.
The qualifying order was determined by the two-variable metric NASCAR introduced over the offseason, replacing the four-variable metric that had been used from 2020 to 2024.
A full breakdown of the current formula can be found here.
While NASCAR still technically splits up the 38 drivers on the entry list into "groups" for qualifying, these groups mean absolutely nothing for short oval races, so we're just going to give you the qualifying order; there is no longer any sort of row-by-row lane designation based on qualfiying group, nor is there even a second rount shootout for pole.
Each driver is set to make a single two-lap qualifying attempt, and the faster of the two laps counts. Those speeds are then compiled to determine the full 38-car starting lineup.
Here's a look at the full qualifying order for the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway.
NASCAR Cup Series qualifying order at Richmond
1 - Corey Heim, No. 67 23XI Racing Toyota
2 - Jesse Love, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
3 - Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford
4 - Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
5 - Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford
6 - Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
7 - John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
8 - Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
9 - Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
10 - Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
11 - Justin Haley, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
12 - Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford
13 - Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota
14 - Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford
15 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet
16 - Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
17 - Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford
18 - Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
19 - Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
20 - Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
21 - Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
22 - Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
23 - Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
24 - Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
25 - Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
26 - Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
27 - Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
28 - A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
29 - Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford
30 - Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
31 - Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
32 - Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
33 - Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
34 - Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford
35 - Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
36 - Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford
37 - William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
38 - Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Don't miss your chance to start a free trial of FuboTV now and be sure to catch live coverage of the Cook Out 400 from Richmond Raceway beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET this Saturday, August 16.