For the second time in the first three races of the Chase, the NASCAR Cup Series starting lineup will be decided by the metric. Lightning and rain forced series officials to cancel qualifying for both the Cup and O'Reilly Series.
The metric is a weighted average of a car's place in the owner standings (30%), and the entry's finish in the most recent race (70%).
Kyle Larson, who won last weekend at Gateway and sits second in the championship standings, will lead the field to the green flag for Saturday night's 500-lap race. He will be joined on the front row by Joey Logano, who finished third at Gateway and sits seventh in the standings.
Championship leader Denny Hamlin will start third, William Byron fourth, and Carson Hocevar fifth.
Alex Bowman and Ross Chastain will be the highest-starting non-Chase drivers in sixth and seventh respectively, with the top ten filled out by Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon, and Bubba Wallace.
Gateway was an attrition-filled race with a track record 18 cautions, and five Chase drivers failed to reach the checkered flag, which will really hurt them in regards to their starting positions at Bristol.
Some Chase drivers starting deeper in the field include Tyler Reddick in 20th, Chris Buescher 23rd, Chase Briscoe 26th, Chase Elliott 27th, Daniel Suarez 28th, and Ryan Blaney will be lowest among the title challengers in 29th.
2026 NASCAR Cup Bristol Night Race Starting Lineup
| Pos. | Driver |
| 1 | Kyle Larson (C) |
| 2 | Joey Logano (C) |
| 3 | Denny Hamlin (C) |
| 4 | William Byron (C) |
| 5 | Carson Hocevar (C) |
| 6 | Alex Bowman |
| 7 | Ross Chastain |
| 8 | Austin Cindric (C) |
| 9 | Austin Dillon |
| 10 | Bubba Wallace (C) |
| 11 | Brad Keselowski |
| 12 | Christopher Bell (C) |
| 13 | Ty Gibbs (C) |
| 14 | Erik Jones |
| 15 | Connor Zilisch |
| 16 | Ryan Preece (C) |
| 17 | Cole Custer |
| 18 | AJ Allmendinger |
| 19 | John Hunter Nemechek |
| 20 | Tyler Reddick (C) |
| 21 | Michael McDowell |
| 22 | Shane van Gisbergen |
| 23 | Chris Buescher (C) |
| 24 | Todd Gilliland |
| 25 | Austin Hill |
| 26 | Chase Briscoe (C) |
| 27 | Chase Elliott (C) |
| 28 | Daniel Suarez (C) |
| 29 | Ryan Blaney (C) |
| 30 | Cody Ware |
| 31 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. |
| 32 | Josh Berry |
| 33 | Ty Dillon |
| 34 | Riley Herbst |
| 35 | Zane Smith |
| 36 | Noah Gragson |
| 37 | Josh Bilicki |
