New Hampshire Motor Speedway, after going back to the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs for the first time since 2017 in 2025, is back on the regular season calendar in 2026. The Dollar Tree 301 is the penultimate race on the 26-race regular season schedule.
The qualifying format for Sunday's 301-lap race around the four-turn, 1.058-mile (1.703-kilometer) "Magic Mile" oval in Loudon, New Hampshire is set to utilize the traditional intermediate track format.
While New Hampshire is generally considered a one-mile oval, it is indeed 1.058 miles in length, meaning that each driver is set to get just one qualifying lap, rather than the two they'd be allowed on a short track.
Unlike on superspeedways, there is set to be just one round of qualifying in Saturday's single-car session. The full order was determined by the qualifying metric, which factors in each car's position in the owner standings and its result in the most recent races.
Follow along with our Dollar Tree 301 qualifying updates from New Hampshire.
NASCAR Cup Series starting lineup at New Hampshire
Note that this starting lineup is not official until all drivers on the entry list are included.
1 - Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
2 - William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
3 - Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
4 - Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
5 - Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
6 - Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
7 - Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
8 - Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
9 - Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford
10 - Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
11 - Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford
12 - Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford
13 - Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford
14 - Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
15 - Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
16 - Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
17 - A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
18 - Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford
19 - Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota
20 - Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
21 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet
22 - John Hunter Nemechek, No. 40 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
23 - Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet
24 - Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
25 - Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
26 - Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
27 - Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet
The Dollar Tree 301 is set to be shown live on USA Network from New Hampshire Motor Speedway starting at 3:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, August 23. Catch all of the action from the penultimate race of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series regular season!
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