In a 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season that has seen nine canceled qualifying sessions due to inclement weather, Talladega Superspeedway was among the first to see its session axed back in April.
But the weather forecast for this weekend at the four-turn, 2.66-mile (4.281-kilometer) high-banked oval in Lincoln, Alabama oval is exactly what you'd want to see as a NASCAR fan, and we have every reason to believe that Saturday's qualifying session will be the fourth in the first eight playoff races that actually takes place as planned.
Because Talladega is a superspeedway, there are set to be two rounds of single-car qualifying for Sunday's 188-lap YellaWood 500, rather than just one. The top 10 drivers from the first round are set to advance to the second round to battle for the pole position.
The qualifying order was determined by the same metric that has been used all season (30% owner standings, 70% most recent race result), although in the postseason, the non-playoff drivers are all slotted in before the 16 playoff drivers are considered, to guarantee that the playoff drivers are the last 16 to qualify.
Follow along with our YellaWood 500 qualifying updates from Talladega.
NASCAR Cup Series starting lineup at Talladega
Round 1
1 - Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet - 185.47
2 - Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet - 185.377
3 - Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet - 185.373
4 - Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet - 184.951
5 - Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet - 184.858
6 - Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet - 184.847
7 - Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota - 184.776
8 - Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet - 184.63
9 - Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford - 184.356
10 - Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet - 184.31
11 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet - 184.264
12 - Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota - 183.889
13 - Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet - 183.85
14 - Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford - 183.758
15 - John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota - 183.691
16 - Casey Mears, No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet - 183.227
17 - Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford - 183.224
18 - Daniel Dye, No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet - 183.01
19 - A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet - 182.553
20 - Joey Gase, No. 44 NY Racing Team Chevrolet - 182.157
21 - Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford - 181.797
22 - Gray Gaulding, No. 66 Garage 66 Ford - 181.106
Round 2
Full starting lineup
Note that this starting lineup is not official until all 40 drivers on the entry list are included.
NBC's live coverage of the YellaWood 500 from Talladega Superspeedway is set to begin at 2:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 25. Start a free trial of FuboTV today and don't miss any of the action from now until the end of the 2026 season!
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