After qualifying was canceled for the opening round of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series posteason at Darlington Raceway one week ago, the weather forecast is far better this weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.
The full qualifying order for Saturday afternoon's qualifying session at the four-turn, 1.25-mile (2.012-kilometer) Madison, Illinois oval was determined by the same two-variable qualifying metric that has been used by NASCAR since the start of the 2025 season.
Each car's rank in the owner standings is weighted at 30%, and each car's finish in the most recent race is weighted at 70%. For the postseason, the non-playoff drivers are slotted into the order first, to guarantee that the 16 playoff drivers are the final 16 drivers to qualify.
With Gateway being considered an intermediate track, each driver is set to make one single-car qualifying attempt in Saturday's single-car session. There is no second lap like there is on short tracks, and there is no second round shootout for pole like there is on superspeedways.
Follow along with our Enjoy Illinois 300 qualifying updates from Gateway.
NASCAR Cup Series starting lineup at Gateway
Note that this starting lineup is not official until all 36 drivers on the entry list are included.
1 - Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet - 135.395
2 - Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet - 135.302
3 - Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota - 135.086
4 - Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet - 134.702
5 - Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford - 134.65
6 - Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford - 134.565
7 - Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet - 134.36
8 - Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford - 134.316
9 - A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet - 134.14
10 - Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet - 134.04
11 - Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet - 133.996
12 - Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford - 133.901
13 - Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet - 133.833
14 - Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford - 133.575
15 - William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet - 133.531
16 - Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota - 133.48
17 - Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet - 133.432
18 - Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet - 133.262
19 - John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota - 133.097
20 - Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet - 132.83
21 - Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet - 132.624
22 - Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford - 132.61
23 - Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet - 132.575
24 - Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota - 132.112
25 - Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford - 132.1
26 - Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet - 131.633
27 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet - 131.521
USA Network's live coverage of the Enjoy Illinois 300 from World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway is set to start at 3:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, September 13, so don't miss any of the action from the second race on the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series postseason calendar!
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