NASCAR: 2024 Southern 500 qualifying updates, full starting lineup

Darlington Raceway is scheduled to host the 26th and final race on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series regular season schedule this Sunday night.

Though the Cook Out Southern 500 had served as the opening race of the four-round, 10-race playoffs from 2020 to 2023 and its schedule slot on Labor Day weekend hasn't changed, the three-week summer break due to NBC's coverage of the Summer Olympics in Paris, France means that the season is set to end a week later.

As a result, Darlington now finds itself with two regular season race dates, making it one of three tracks to appear twice before the playoffs. The four-turn, 1.366 mile (2.198-kilometer) egg-shaped Darlington, South Carolina oval known as the track "Too Tough To Tame" also hosted a race back in May.

The traditional single-car qualifying format is set to be used to determine the starting lineup for Sunday night's 367-lap race, and the qualifying order was determined by the four-variable metric NASCAR has used since 2020. A full breakdown of that formula can be found here.

The fastest five drivers in each of the two groups are set to advance to the shootout for the pole position. The drivers who don't advance out of the first group are set to line up on the outside lane while the drivers who don't advance out of the second group are set to line up on the inside lane.

There has been one significant change to the qualifying procedure since the series raced at Darlington back in May. The 10-driver shootout for the pole position is now group-based.

The fastest driver overall is still set to take the pole position and get lane choice, but it is the fastest driver from the opposite group, who could technically be as slow as sixth place overall, who is set to join him on the front row.

The rest of the outside lane is set to be filled by the drivers from the second group, and the rest of the inside lane is set to be filled by the drivers from the first group.

Access a full qualifying order here.

NASCAR at Darlington: Full starting lineup

Check back for a full starting lineup

1st - Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota

2nd - Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

3rd - Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford

4th - Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

5th - Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

6th - Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota

7th - Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford

8th - William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

9th - Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

10th - Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford

11th - Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford

12th - Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford

13th - Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

14th - Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

15th - Josh Berry, No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford

16th - Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

17th - Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

18th - John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota

19th - Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

20th - Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

21st - Justin Haley, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford

22nd - Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet

23rd - Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford

24th - Harrison Burton, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford

25th - Daniel Hemric, No. 31 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet

26th - Zane Smith, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

27th - Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

28th - Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota

29th - Noah Gragson, No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford

30th - Ryan Preece, No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford

31st - Michael McDowell, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford

32nd - Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet

33rd - Todd Gilliland, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford

34th - Shane van Gisbergen, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet

35th - Kaz Grala, No. 15 Rick Ware Racing Ford

36th - Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet

37th - Timmy Hill, No. 66 MBM Motorsports Ford

Tune in to USA Network at 6:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, September 1 for the live broadcast of the Cook Out Southern 500 from Darlington Raceway. Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson is the reigning race winner, and RFK Racing's Brad Keselowski won at the track back in May. Begin a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale!