The NASCAR Cup Series was scheduled for single-car qualifying on Saturday afternoon for the Bank of America 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. However, Mother Nature had other ideas for the 39-car field as qualifying was canceled due to rain on Saturday morning.
Qualifying was moved up from its original start time of 2:05 p.m. ET to 12:05 p.m. ET due to the threat of inclement weather. However, the two-hour change would not be enough to get past the rain and both qualifying and practice were canceled.
Because of the cancellation, the starting lineup of Sunday’s Bank of America 400 was set based on the metric. That means championship leader Kyle Larson will lead the field to the green flag for Sunday’s race.
Larson, who carries a 40-point lead into the sixth race of the Chase, has been lights out through the first five races of the postseason. The driver of the No. 5 has finished no worse than fifth and has posted two wins.
Chase drivers take up the top nine positions for Sunday’s race (Larson, Chase Briscoe, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, Austin Cindric, William Byron, Joey Logano, Bubba Wallace, Chase Elliott).
Shane van Gisbergen rolls off 10th as the highest-starting non-Chase driver.
Carson Hocevar (11th), Denny Hamlin (12th), Chris Buescher (13th), Daniel Suarez (15th) and Christopher Bell (17th) are five Chase drivers who find themselves starting outside the top 10 but within 11th-20th.
Suarez is the defending Charlotte oval Cup Series winner after winning the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 last May.
Ryan Preece is the lowest-starting Chase driver as the driver of the No. 60 will roll off 24th. The RFK Racing driver currently ranks last among the Chase field in 16th position in the standings.
Corey Heim, who is set to compete full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2027, will roll off 37th based on the metric. Heim last competed in the Cup Series in the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway to kick off the Chase.
The 23XI Racing driver has put the Cup Series field on notice this season as he has won two races as a part-time driver with victories at Naval Base Coronado and Indianapolis.
Full NASCAR Cup Series Lineup For Bank of America 400
- Kyle Larson (Chase)
- Chase Briscoe (Chase)
- Tyler Reddick (Chase)
- Ryan Blaney (Chase)
- Austin Cindric (Chase)
- William Byron (Chase)
- Joey Logano (Chase)
- Bubba Wallace (Chase)
- Chase Elliott (Chase)
- Shane van Gisbergen
- Carson Hocevar (Chase)
- Denny Hamlin (Chase)
- Chris Buescher (Chase)
- Ty Gibbs (Chase)
- Daniel Suarez (Chase)
- Alex Bowman
- Christopher Bell (Chase)
- AJ Allmendinger
- Michael McDowell
- Austin Dillon
- Riley Herbst
- Brad Keselowski
- Noah Gragson
- Ryan Preece (Chase)
- Erik Jones
- Austin Hill
- Josh Berry
- Ross Chastain
- John Hunter Nemechek
- Cole Custer
- Todd Gilliland
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Ty Dillon
- Zane Smith
- Cody Ware
- Connor Zilisch
- Corey Heim
- Gray Gaulding
- BJ McLeod
NASCAR Cup Series Bank of America 400 Start Time
Charlotte Motor Speedway plays host to the sixth race of the NASCAR Cup Series Chase. Scheduled for 267 laps and 400 miles, the Cup circuit returns to the Charlotte oval for the fall Chase race for the first time since 2017.
The circuit previously raced on the Charlotte Roval from 2018-2025. Coverage of Sunday’s race is set to begin at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network and the Performance Racing Network (PRN).
NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying Canceled Due to Rain: Who is on The Pole?