The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season is scheduled to get underway in just over two weeks with the 68th annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, but action is scheduled to begin this weekend with the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium.
Key words: "scheduled to", given the weather forecast and the fact that there could very well be close to a foot of snow on the ground in Winston-Salem, North Carolina by the time the weekend rolls around.
Nevertheless, the plan is still to run a total of six practice sessions, three qualifying sessions, four 25-lap heat races, a 75-lap Last Chance Qualifier, and the 200-lap main event around the four-turn, 0.25-mile (0.402-kilometer) oval this weekend, and the format for the weekend is the exact same as it was a year ago.
There are 38 drivers on the projected entry list, meaning that two of the heat races are set to feature 10 drivers and the other two are set to feature nine. The top five drivers in each heat race are set to lock themselves into the main event. The other 18 drivers are set to be relegated to the Last Chance Qualifier, and only the top two drivers from that race are set to advance.
A 23rd Clash driver is then set to be decided based on the 2025 point standings.
That naturally means that, no matter what happens in the five mini-races preceding the Clash, Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson is already locked in, since he won the 2025 championship.
Likewise, should Larson successfully race his way in, rather than fall back on the points provisional, Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin would be locked in regardless as 2025's series runner-up, and so on.
However, several drivers on the entry list have no way of falling back on that provisional and absolutely must race their way in.
Here's a list of those 15 competitors.
Team | Car | Driver | 2025 points position |
|---|---|---|---|
Front Row Motorsports | No. 4 Ford | Noah Gragson | 34th |
RFK Racing | No. 6 Ford | Corey LaJoie | N/A |
Spire Motorsports | No. 7 Chevrolet | Daniel Suarez | 29th |
Kaulig Racing | No. 10 Chevrolet | Ty Dillon | 33rd |
Kaulig Racing | No. 16 Chevrolet | A.J. Allmendinger | 26th |
Front Row Motorsports | No. 34 Ford | Todd Gilliland | 27th |
23XI Racing | No. 35 Toyota | Riley Herbst | 35th |
Front Row Motorsports | No. 38 Ford | Zane Smith | 28th |
Haas Factory Team | No. 41 Ford | Cole Custer | 32nd |
Legacy Motor Club | No. 42 Toyota | John Hunter Nemechek | 25th |
Hyak Motorsports | No. 47 Chevrolet | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 30th |
Team AmeriVet | No. 50 Chevrolet | Burt Myers | 41st |
Rick Ware Racing | No. 51 Chevrolet | Cody Ware | 36th |
Garage 66 | No. 66 Ford | Chad Finchum | 40th |
Trackhouse Racing | No. 88 Chevrolet | Connor Zilisch | N/A |
Notably, the 2025 point standings provisional is based on the driver's point total, not the owner's point total. So Corey LaJoie is not credited with Brad Keselowski's 20th place finish, for instance, even though he is set to fill in for the injured Keselowski.
Keselowski's absence is also the reason why Legacy Motor Club's Erik Jones, despite a 24th place finish in the 2025 standings, can technically find himself in a spot where he is able to fall back on the points provisional.
Of the 15 drivers on this list, only Gragson, Suarez, and Gilliland made it into the main event a year ago. All three did so by racing their way in.
Finchum and Zilisch were not a part of the event at all in 2025. The other 10 did not successfully manage to qualify.
Fox Sports 1 is set to be responsible for all of Saturday's coverage from Bowman Gray Stadium, starting at 6:00 p.m. ET, while Fox is set to be responsible for all of Sunday's, also starting at 6:00 p.m. ET, though this could change depending on the weather. Start a free trial of FuboTV and plan on catching all of the action!