Darlington Raceway is the sixth track on the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series regular season schedule, and it's the third track on the calendar that is also set to host a race during the new-look 10-race "Chase" playoffs, elevating the importance of this weekend's Goodyear 400 as teams and drivers look to build a notebook for the postseason.
With the Darlington, South Carolina oval being a four-turn, 1.366-mile (2.198-kilometer) intermediate oval, NASCAR is set to utilize the traditional qualifying format for Sunday's race this Saturday afternoon.
Unlike at superspeedways, where there is a second round shootout for pole position, there is just one round of qualifying, and each of the 37 drivers on the entry list is set to make a single-lap attempt, rather than a two-lap attempt like we see at short tracks.
The qualifying order for Saturday's session was determined by the two-variable metric which NASCAR has used since the start of the 2025 season. A full breakdown of that formula, which replaced the more complicated formula that was used from 2020 to 2024, can be found here.
Follow along with our Goodyear 400 qualifying updates from Darlington.
NASCAR Cup Series starting lineup at Darlington
Order | Driver |
|---|---|
1 | Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota |
2 | Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota |
3 | Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
4 | Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
5 | Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford |
6 | Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford |
7 | Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford |
8 | Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
9 | Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
10 | Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
11 | Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
12 | Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford |
13 | William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
14 | Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota |
15 | Justin Allgaier, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
16 | Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
17 | Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford |
18 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet |
19 | Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
20 | Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
21 | John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
22 | Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
23 | Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
24 | Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
25 | Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
26 | Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford |
27 | A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
28 | Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
29 | Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford |
30 | Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
31 | Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
32 | Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
33 | Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
34 | Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet |
35 | Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet |
36 | Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
37 | Timmy Hill, No. 66 Garage 66 Ford |
Live coverage of the Goodyear 400 is set to begin on Fox Sports 1 at 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 22. Start a free trial of FuboTV today and catch all of the action from Darlington Raceway!