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NASCAR Cup Series qualifying, full starting lineup for Kansas playoff race

Kansas Speedway is set to host the fourth race on the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series playoff calendar this Sunday.
ByAsher Fair
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing, NASCAR Cup Series
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing, NASCAR Cup Series | Getty Images

The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series "Chase" postseason is well underway following a chaotic weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, and race number four is scheduled to take place at Kansas Speedway this Sunday afternoon. Kansas, like Bristol, also hosted a regular season race in April, a race that was won by 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick.

Reddick hasn't won since, but that win was his fifth of the year, and 20 races later, nobody has been able to match that.

While none of the three playoff races contested thus far in 2026 have been postponed, two of the three qualifying sessions were rained out. Only World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway has seen a playoff qualifying session take place as planned this month, and that happened two weekends ago.

Saturday's forecast for the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Kansas City, Kansas oval wasn't particularly great heading into the weekend either, so be sure to stay tuned for updates.

If the single-car qualifying session is able to take place as planned, each driver is set to get one timed lap, and those laps are set to determine the full starting lineup. There is no second round shootout for pole like there is on superspeedways.

The qualifying order was determined by the qualifying metric, which is based 30% on the owner standings and 70% on the results of the most recent race. For the playoffs, the non-playoff drivers are all slotted in first, although if qualifying is canceled, all drivers are lumped in together, and the metric is used to determine the full starting lineup.

Follow along with our Hollywood Casino 400 qualifying updates from Kansas Speedway.

Update: Qualifying canceled due to rain. Lineup set by the metric.

NASCAR Cup Series playoff starting lineup at Kansas

Order

Driver

1

Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford

2

Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

3

Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

4

Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

5

Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

6

Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

7

Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota

8

William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

9

Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford

10

Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford

11

Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford

12

Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford

13

Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

14

Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

15

Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota

16

Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford

17

Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

18

Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

19

Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

20

Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford

21

Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford

22

Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

23

Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

24

A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet

25

Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford

26

John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota

27

Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

28

Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford

29

Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet

30

Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota

31

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet

32

Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

33

Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

34

Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota

35

Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet

36

Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet

USA Network is set to provide live coverage of Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400 starting at 3:00 p.m. ET. Catch all of the action from Kansas Speedway as the NASCAR Cup Series postseason continues to heat up!

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