NASCAR: Full Southern 500 starting lineup if qualifying gets canceled

Rain and NASCAR Cup Series race weekends have gone hand in hand on a number of occasions throughout the summer, and it could again play a role this weekend at Darlington Raceway ahead of the Cook Out Southern 500.

According to The Weather Channel, there is a 44% chance of scattered thunderstorms throughout the day Saturday, when qualifying is scheduled to take place to set the starting lineup for Sunday night's 367-lap race around the four-turn, 1.366-mile (2.198-kilometer) egg-shaped Darlington, South Carolina oval.

Should rain wash out the qualifying session at the track "Too Tough To Tame", the starting lineup would be set by the metric that NASCAR introduced four seasons ago.

This formula includes four variables and can be found in more detail here.

Here is what the starting lineup will look like on Sunday if Saturday's qualifying session is unable to take place as planned.

Darlington starting lineup (if qualifying is rained out)

1st - Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

2nd - Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota

3rd - Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

4th - Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford

5th - Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

6th - Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford

7th - Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

8th - Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

9th - Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford

10th - Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota

11th - Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

12th - Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet

13th - Daniel Hemric, No. 31 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet

14th - William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

15th - Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

16th - Harrison Burton, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford

17th - Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford

18th - Zane Smith, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

19th - Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford

20th - John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota

21st - Todd Gilliland, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford

22nd - Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota

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

24th - Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

25th - Josh Berry, No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford

26th - Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet

27th - Michael McDowell, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford

28th - Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

29th - Justin Haley, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford

30th - Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

31st - Kaz Grala, No. 15 Rick Ware Racing Ford

32nd - Ryan Preece, No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford

33rd - Noah Gragson, No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford

34th - Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet

35th - Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

36th - Shane van Gisbergen, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet

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

Darlington Raceway is scheduled to host the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale this Sunday, September 1 beginning at 6:00 p.m. ET, with live coverage set to be provided by USA Network. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss the Cook Out Southern 500!