After back-to-back superspeedway races at Daytona International Speedway and EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta Motor Speedway) opened up the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season, the series raced at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) this past Sunday for the first of four non-oval races of the year.
Now the series is set for the first "regular" oval race of the season at Phoenix Raceway.
Phoenix is considered an intermediate track, as it is a four-turn, 1.022-mile (1.645-kilometer) oval. As a result, each driver is set to make one single-lap qualifying attempt, and those speeds are set to be compiled to set the full 37-car starting lineup; there is no second round shootout for the pole position.
The full qualifying order was determined by the NASCAR qualifying metric, which was introduced before the 2025 season began. A full breakdown of that two-variable formula can be found here.
Follow along with our live qualifying updates from the Avondale, Arizona track.
NASCAR Cup Series starting lineup at Phoenix
Order | Driver |
|---|---|
1 | Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford |
2 | Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
3 | Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford |
4 | Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
5 | Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford |
6 | Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
7 | Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
8 | Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota |
9 | William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
10 | Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford |
11 | Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
12 | Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
13 | Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford |
14 | Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
15 | John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
16 | Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
17 | Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford |
18 | Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
19 | Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
20 | Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
21 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet |
22 | Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota |
23 | A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
24 | Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
25 | Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
26 | Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
27 | Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
28 | Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota |
29 | Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
30 | Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
31 | Anthony Alfredo, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
32 | Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
33 | Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
34 | Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet |
35 | Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
36 | Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet |
37 | Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford |
The Straight Talk Wireless 500 is set to be shown live on Fox Sports 1 from Phoenix Raceway starting at 3:30 p.m. ET this Sunday, March 8. Begin a free trial of FuboTV today and don't miss any of the action!