While EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta Motor Speedway) hosted the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season's second race, that mile-and-a-half oval was reconfigured into a superspeedway-style track following the 2021 season.
So Las Vegas Motor Speedway is the first traditional four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometerr) oval on the 2026 calendar, one week after the season's first true "regular" oval race of the year at Phoenix Raceway.
Because of the Las Vegas, Nevada oval's classification as an intermediate track, there is set to be only a single round of single-car qualifying on Saturday. Each driver is set to get one timed lap, and the 36 speeds are set to be stacked up against one another to determine the full starting lineup.
The qualifying order was determined by the two-variable metric that NASCAR introduced ahead of the 2025 season.
This formula replaced the four-variable metric that NASCAR originally introduced to set starting lineups in the absence of qualifying during the COVID-19-related restriction-impacted 2020 campaign. That metric then served as the qualiyfing order metric through the 2024 season.
A full breakdown of the current metric can be found here, and a full qualifying order can be found here.
Follow along with our qualifying updates from Las Vegas.
NASCAR Cup Series starting lineup at Las Vegas
Order | Driver |
|---|---|
1 | Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
2 | Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
3 | Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
4 | Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota |
5 | Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
6 | Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford |
7 | Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota |
8 | Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford |
9 | William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
10 | Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford |
11 | Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
12 | Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
13 | Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
14 | Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
15 | Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
16 | Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
17 | Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
18 | Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
19 | Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
20 | Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota |
21 | Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford |
22 | Justin Allgaier, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
23 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet |
24 | Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
25 | Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
26 | John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
27 | Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
28 | Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford |
29 | A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
30 | Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
31 | Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford |
32 | Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford |
33 | Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet |
34 | Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
35 | Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet |
36 | Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
Las Vegas Motor Speedway is scheduled to host the Pennzoil 400 this Sunday, March 15, with live coverage set to be provided by Fox Sports 1 beginning at 4:00 p.m. ET. Start a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss any of the action!