The qualifying for the NASCAR Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway has been canceled due to heavy rains affecting the area. As a result, the championship leader, Tyler Reddick, will start the race from the first position, with Kyle Larson beside him on the starting grid.
This will be the fifth time in the first ten races of the 2026 season that the number 45 vehicle of 23XI Racing will start from the pole, and the second caused by a rain delay, as the first one was at EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta.
Instead of a traditional qualifying, the grid will be determined using a metric that weighs the driver’s standing in the owner’s championship (30%) and the result of the last race (70%).
Denny Hamlin will start third, followed by Bubba Wallace in fourth and Chase Briscoe in fifth. Drivers Brad Keselowski, William Byron, Chase Elliott, Ty Gibbs, and Chris Buescher complete the top ten of the grid.
Despite 41 entries for Sunday’s race, one vehicle will not be able to participate, this is the No. 62 of Beard Motorsports with driver Casey Mears, who will not be able to reach the goal of completing 500 races in his career. This is the second time this year that the team has missed the grid, after not participating in the Daytona 500.
The last spot on the grid will go to Daniel Dye, who will make his debut in the Cup Series with the number 78 vehicle from Live Fast Motorsports.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
