Four drivers were eliminated from NASCAR Cup Series championship contention following the round of 16 finale at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night, and the round of 12 is set to get underway from New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend with the Mobil 1 301.
Sunday's race is scheduled to be a 301-lap race around the four-turn, 1.058-mile (1.703-kilometer) "Magic Mile" oval in Loudon, New Hampshire. Because New Hampshire is technically over one mile, it is not considered a short track when it comes to qualifying.
As a result, each driver is set to make a single-lap qualifying attempt, with the qualifying order determined by the two-variable metric NASCAR introduced before the season began. This formula replaced the old four-variable formula that was used from 2020 to 2024.
A full breakdown of the current formula can be found here.
There have been three driver lineup changes since last week. More specifically, three cars that ran at Bristol are not running at New Hampshire, and there aren't any others that have been added.
Notably, the 12 remaining championship contenders are guaranteed to be listed behind the non-playoff drivers in the qualifying order, even if they have higher metric scores. Though there are no actual qualifying groups, the 24 non-playoff drivers are factored into the formula first, then the 12 title contenders are considered to ensure this.
There is only a single round of qualifying, and speeds from that round determine the full 36-car starting lineup. There is no longer a second round pole position shootout.
Here's a look at the full qualifying order for the Mobil 1 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
NASCAR playoff qualifying order at New Hampshire
Non-playoff drivers
1 - Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
2 - Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford
3 - A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
4 - Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
5 - Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford
6 - Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
7 - Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford
8 - Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
9 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet
10 - Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
11 - Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota
12 - Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
13 - Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
14 - Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford
15 - Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
16 - Justin Haley, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
17 - Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
18 - John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
19 - Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford
20 - Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
21 - Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
22 - Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford
23 - Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
24 - Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford
Playoff drivers
25 - Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
26 - Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
27 - Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
28 - Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
29 - Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
30 - Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
31 - Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
32 - William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
33 - Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
34 - Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
35 - Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford
36 - Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
USA Network's live coverage of the Mobil 1 301 from New Hampshire Motor Speedway is set to begin at 2:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, September 21. If you have not yet done so, begin a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss any of the action from the "Magic Mile"!