The middle race of the round of 8 is scheduled to take place this Sunday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway, and seven drivers have a chance to punch their ticket to the NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway to join Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin, who won this past weekend's race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Saturday afternoon's qualifying session for Sunday's 188-lap YellaWood 500 around the four-turn, 2.66-mile (4.281-kilometer) high-banked Lincoln, Alabama oval is set to utilize the standard qualifying format for superspeedways.
The full 40-car qualifying order is set to be determined using the new two-variable formula that NASCAR introduced ahead of the 2025 season to replace the four-variable metric which was used from 2020 to 2024. A full breakdown of the current formula can be found here.
Because Sunday's race is a playoff race, however, the eight drivers still in championship contention are not factored into the formula until the other 32 are slotted in, guaranteeing them slots 33 through 40 in the order.
Unlike for races at intermediate tracks, however, there is actually a second round shootout for the pole position at Talladega. The fastest 10 drivers from the first round are set to advance to the second round to battle for the top spot in Sunday's starting lineup.
Here's a look at the full 40-car order for Saturday's qualifying session ahead of Sunday's YellaWood 500 at Talladega.
NASCAR playoff qualifying order at Talladega
1 - Anthony Alfredo, No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet
2 - Casey Mears, No. 66 Garage 66 Ford
3 - Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
4 - Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
5 - Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford
6 - B.J. McLeod, No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet
7 - Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford
8 - Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
9 - Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
10 - Justin Haley, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
11 - John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
12 - Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
13 - Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford
14 - Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
15 - Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
16 - Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota
17 - Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
18 - Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
19 - A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
20 - Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
21 - Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford
22 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet
23 - Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
24 - Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
25 - Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
26 - Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford
27 - Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford
28 - Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
29 - Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
30 - Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford
31 - Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
32 - Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
33 - Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford
34 - William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
35 - Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
36 - Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
37 - Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
38 - Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
39 - Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
40 - Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
NBC is set to provide live coverage of the YellaWood 500 from Talladega Superspeedway beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, October 19. If you've yet to begin a free trial of FuboTV, do so now and don't miss any of the action!