After Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron only managed to qualify 34th for Sunday's Food City 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway, the No. 24 team opted to replace some of their steering system.
This change is considered an unapproved adjustment, so Byron is set to drop even further back in the pack to start Sunday afternoon's 500-lap race around the four-turn, 0.533-mile (0.858-kilometer) high-banked Bristol, Tennessee oval.
Byron qualified on the outside lane, so he is set to drop to the tail end of that lane, meaning he is set to take the green flag in 36th place, dropping him behind both Rick Ware Racing's Cody Ware and Front Row Motorsports' Todd Gilliland.
Ware initially qualified 36th, so he is set to move up to Byron's spot in 34th by simply moving up one row. Gilliland is still set to start 35th. Garage 66's Chad Finchum, who qualified 37th, will not move up a row, as he is set to start on the inside lane.
Here's an updated look at the full 37-car starting lineup for the Food City 500, following Byron's penalty.
Bristol NASCAR Cup Series starting lineup
Order | Driver |
|---|---|
1 | Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford |
2 | Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota |
3 | Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
4 | Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota |
5 | Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
6 | Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
7 | Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford |
8 | Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
9 | Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford |
10 | Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
11 | Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
12 | Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota |
13 | Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
14 | Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
15 | Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
16 | Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
17 | Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford |
18 | Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
19 | Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
20 | Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford |
21 | Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford |
22 | A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
23 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet |
24 | Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
25 | Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford |
26 | Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
27 | Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
28 | Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
29 | Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
30 | Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet |
31 | John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
32 | Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
33 | Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
34 | Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet |
35 | Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
36 | William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
37 | Chad Finchum, No. 66 Garage 66 Ford |
Fox Sports 1 is providing live coverage of the Food City 500 this afternoon from Bristol Motor Speedway, rather than Fox itself. Start a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season's eighth race!