After Saturday's qualifying washout at Kansas Speedway for Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400, 31% of all NASCAR Cup Series oval qualifying sessions have been canceled in 2026, meaning that NASCAR is just as likely to cancel an oval qualifying session due to inclement weather as this year's MLB batting champion is to get a hit every time he comes to the plate.
It's particularly consequential in the playoffs, and it continues to raise concerns about whether or not NASCAR's qualifying metric, which is supposed to be used to determine the qualifying order but is used to determine the starting lineup when qualifying is canceled, is truly the right way to go about a qualifying cancelation.
That metric, based 30% on the owner standings and 70% on the results of the most recent race, splits up the playoff drivers and the non-playoff drivers to determine the qualifying order, but when qualifying is washed out, which has now happened on 75% of playoff race weekends this year, those drivers are not separated.
As a result, the championship contenders are not locked into the top 16, even though they would have been locked into the final 16 spots in the qualifying order.
Team Penske's Ryan Blaney is set to start 25th, lowest among the 16 title contenders. And he isn't the only one outside of the top 16.
Here's a look at the full starting lineup for Sunday afternoon's 267-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Kansas City, Kansas oval.
NASCAR starting lineup after another rainout
Order | Driver |
|---|---|
1 | Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford |
2 | Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
3 | Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
4 | Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
5 | Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
6 | Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
7 | Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota |
8 | William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
9 | Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford |
10 | Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford |
11 | Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford |
12 | Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford |
13 | Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
14 | Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
15 | Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota |
16 | Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford |
17 | Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
18 | Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
19 | Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
20 | Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
21 | Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
22 | Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
23 | Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
24 | A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
25 | Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford |
26 | John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
27 | Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
28 | Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
29 | Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet |
30 | Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
31 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet |
32 | Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
33 | Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
34 | Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota |
35 | Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet |
36 | Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
USA Network's live coverage of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season's fourth playoff race is set to begin at 3:00 p.m. ET this afternoon. Don't miss any of the action from the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway!
