Rain and NASCAR Cup Series qualifying sessions have gone hand in hand lately, to the extent where the latter has actually not happened ahead of a playoff race for three weeks now.
Eight total oval qualifying sessions have been canceled due to inclement weather in 2026, including three of the first four to begin the 10-race "Chase" postseason. That's three canceled qualifying sessions in 22 days, after just four were canceled across the entire 2024 and 2025 seasons combined.
And that's what makes this weekend's weather update from AccuWeather borderline shocking, ahead of Sunday's South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
There is currently a 0% chance of rain on Saturday, October 3 at the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Las Vegas, Nevada oval.
NASCAR might actually have a Cup qualifying session this week
Of course, there's never truly a 0% chance of rain, just as much as there's never truly a 100% chance of rain when there's supposedly a 100% chance of rain. But it's a welcome update as NASCAR prepares to rain its first Cup Series qualifying session in 21 days this Saturday afternoon at Las Vegas.
That session is set to take place at 5:35 p.m. ET (2:35 p.m. PT local time), following practice at 4:30 p.m. ET (1:30 p.m. PT)
The qualifying metric, which has been used to determine the starting lineups in the absence of qualifying, is set to be used strictly to determine this weekend's qualifying order. The non-playoff drivers are factored into the metric first, guaranteeing that the 16 playoff drivers are the last 16 drivers to turn a qualifying lap.
The session is a single-round session, and each driver is set to turn a single qualifying lap. Joe Gibbs Racing's Christopher Bell was on pole at Las Vegas in March, and teammate Denny Hamlin won the race from the front row.
For as much recent frustration as there has been about the metric determining so many crucial starting lineups in the postseason, 10 consecutive races have been won by somebody other than the polesitter, although the past three have all been won from the front row.
Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson owns a 26-point lead over Hamlin in the championship standings with six races remaining on the 2026 calendar after winning two of those three.
USA Network is set to provide live coverage of Sunday's South Point 400 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway starting at 5:30 p.m. ET. For what it's worth, there is currently a 1% chance of rain on Sunday. In Vegas speak, that's about 99-to-1 odds. Don't miss the season's fifth playoff race.
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