While the weather forecast for this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway is about as good as you could ask for as a NASCAR fan, we're not taking our chances.
The April qualifying session at the four-turn, 2.66-mile (4.281-kilometer) high-banked Lincoln, Alabama oval was one of five canceled during the regular season, and just three of the first seven qualifying sessions have actually not been rained out.
In the event of a qualifying rainout, the starting lineup for Sunday's 188-lap race would be determined by the qualifying metric, albeit not necessarily in reverse order of the qualifying order. The metric takes into account the owner standings (30%) and the results of the most recent race (70%).
In the postseason, the non-playoff drivers are factored into the qualifying order first, to ensure that the 16 championship contenders are the final 16 to qualify. But when qualifying is canceled, drivers are not split up based on whether they are in the postseason or not.
Four non-playoff drivers would start Sunday's YellaWood 500 in the top 16 if qualifying is rained out, while three playoff drivers would start 20th or lower. Here's how the full starting lineup would look.
Talladega starting lineup if qualifying is canceled
Order | Driver |
|---|---|
1 | Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota |
2 | Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford |
3 | Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
4 | Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
5 | Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford |
6 | Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
7 | Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
8 | Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
9 | Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
10 | Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
11 | Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford |
12 | Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota |
13 | Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford |
14 | Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford |
15 | Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
16 | Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford |
17 | Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
18 | Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
19 | William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
20 | Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford |
21 | Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
22 | Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
23 | A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
24 | Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
25 | Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
26 | Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
27 | Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
28 | Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
29 | Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet |
30 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet |
31 | Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota |
32 | Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
33 | John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
34 | Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
35 | Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
36 | Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet |
37 | Gray Gaulding, No. 66 Garage 66 Ford |
38 | Daniel Dye, No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet |
39 | Joey Gase, No. 44 NY Racing Team Chevrolet |
40 | Casey Mears, No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet |
Sunday's YellaWood 500 is set to be shown live on NBC from Talladega Superspeedway beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET. Don't miss any of the action and start a free trial of FuboTV today!
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