NASCAR: Full qualifying order revealed for Las Vegas playoff race

After a superspeedway race and a road course race wrapped up the round of 12, the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs are set to shift to a more traditional intermediate track in Las Vegas, Nevada this weekend.

Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which has hosted a playoff race each year since 2018, is set to get the semifinal round underway and potentially determine which of the eight remaining championship contenders will be the first to punch his ticket to the winner-take-all Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway three weekends later.

Qualifying for this 267-lap South Point 400 around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) oval is set to be a single-car session which utilizes a group format, with the qualifying groups, and more specifically the qualifying order, determined by a four-variable metric that NASCAR implemented back in 2020.

A full explanation of that formula can be found here.

There are exactly four championship contenders in each group, as those already eliminated are slotted into the order first before the round of 8 drivers are factored into the metric. The fastest five drivers in each group, playoff drivers or not, advance to the second round.

Unlike when NASCAR visited Las Vegas back in March, the second round is now group-based as well, meaning that a faster driver could theoretically qualify behind a slower one.

NASCAR at Las Vegas: Full qualifying order

Group A

Cody Ware, No. 15 Rick Ware Racing Ford
John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
Justin Haley, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Shane van Gisbergen, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
Ryan Preece, No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
Josh Berry, No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Zane Smith, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Todd Gilliland, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford
Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford
Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Group B

Jimmie Johnson, No. 84 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
Corey LaJoie, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford
Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
Noah Gragson, No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Daniel Hemric, No. 31 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet
Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
Harrison Burton, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
Michael McDowell, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford
Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford
Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

NBC is set to provide live coverage of the South Point 400 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET this Sunday, October 20. Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson won last year's race, and he also won at the track back in March. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss the opening race of the round of 8 of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs!