Bristol Motor Speedway is set to host the third of 10 races on the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs schedule, after hosting a regular season race, won by Joe Gibbs Racing's Ty Gibbs, back in mid-April.
As a tribute to the late Kyle Busch, Gibbs is set to be sponsored by M&M's, which left the sport after the 2022 season, at the four-turn, 0.533-mile (0.858-kilometer) high-banked Bristol, Tennessee oval this weekend.
Busch was a 22-time NASCAR national series winner at Bristol, including two tripleheader sweeps in 2010 and 2017. Nobody else has ever swept a weekend at the same track across the Cup Series, O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, and Craftsman Truck Series, and he did it twice at the same track. Saturday night's 500-lap Bass Pro Shops Night Race is set to be the first at the track since his passing in May.
Because Bristol is a short track, each driver is allowed to run two qualifying laps, although because the top speed, rather than the average speed, is what is used to determine the 37-car starting lineup, running both laps is not a requirement. There is no second round shootout for pole like there is on superspeedways.
The qualifying order was determined by the qualifying metric that NASCAR has used since the start of the 2025 season, although for the playoffs, the 16 championship contenders aren't slotted in until the non-playoff drivers are slotted in, to guarantee that they qualify at the end of the order.
Follow along with our Bass Pro Shops Night Race qualifying updates from Bristol Motor Speedway.
Qualifying canceled due to weather Starting lineup set by the metric.
NASCAR Cup Series starting lineup at Bristol
1 - Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
2 - Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
3 - Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
4 - William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
5 - Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
6 - Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
7 - Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
8 - Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
9 - Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
10 - Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
11 - Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford
12 - Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
13 - Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
14 - Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
15 - Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
16 - Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford
17 - Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet
18 - A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
19 - John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
20 - Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
21 - Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
22 - Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
23 - Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford
24 - Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
25 - Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
26 - Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
27 - Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
28 - Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
29 - Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford
30 - Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet
31 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet
32 - Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
33 - Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
34 - Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota
35 - Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford
36 - Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford
37 - Josh Bilicki, No. 66 Garage 66 Ford
Live coverage of the Bass Pro Shops Night Race is set to be provided by USA Network from Bristol Motor Speedway starting at 7:30 p.m. ET this Saturday, September 19. Don't miss the third race on the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series postseason schedule!
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