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
Order | Driver |
|---|---|
1 | Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota |
2 | Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford |
3 | William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
4 | Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
5 | Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
6 | Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
7 | Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
8 | Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford |
9 | Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
10 | Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
11 | Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
12 | Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
13 | Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
14 | Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
15 | Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
16 | Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford |
17 | Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
18 | Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford |
19 | Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
20 | Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
21 | Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford |
22 | Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
23 | Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota |
24 | A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
25 | Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford |
26 | Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford |
27 | Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota |
28 | Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
29 | Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
30 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet |
31 | John Hunter Nemechek, No. 40 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
32 | Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet |
33 | Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
34 | Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
35 | Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
36 | 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!
