Due to storms moving through the area, NASCAR was forced to cancel Cup Series qualifying at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday morning. As a result, championship leader Tyler Reddick will start from pole position with Kyle Larson joining him on the front row.
This will be the fifth time in the first ten races of the 2026 season that the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota will start from pole, and the second due to a rainout (the first was at EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta).
Instead of time trials, the field will be set by the metric, a weighted average of a car's place in the owner standings (30%), and the entry's finish in the most recent race (70%).
Denny Hamlin will start third, Bubba Wallace fourth, and Chase Briscoe fifth. Brad Keselowski, William Byron, Chase Elliott, Ty Gibbs, and Chris Buescher fill out the remainder of the top ten.
Unfortunately, there were 41 entries or Sunday's race, so one car was sent home for the first time since the season-opener.. That will be the No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet with driver Casey Mears, putting a dent in his plans to reach 500 career starts by the end of the year. The team has now DNQed in both of their attempts this year, also missing the field for the Daytona 500.
The 40th and final spot on the grid will go to Daniel Dye, making his Cup Series debut in the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet
Jack Link's 500 Starting Lineup -- NASCAR Cup at Talladega
| Pos. | Driver | Team |
| 1 | Tyler Reddick | 23XI Racing |
| 2 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 3 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 4 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing |
| 5 | Chase Briscoe | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing |
| 7 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 8 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 9 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 10 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing |
| 11 | Ryan Preece | RFK Racing |
| 12 | Carson Hocevar | Spire Motorsports |
| 13 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske |
| 14 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 15 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske |
| 16 | Daniel Suarez | Spire Motorsports |
| 17 | Riley Herbst | 23XI Racing |
| 18 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing |
| 19 | Todd Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports |
| 20 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 21 | Erik Jones | Legacy Motor Club |
| 22 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Hyak Motorsports |
| 23 | John Hunter Nemechek | Legacy Motor Club |
| 24 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing Team |
| 25 | Joey Logano | Team Penske |
| 26 | Josh Berry | Wood Brothers Racing |
| 27 | Cole Custer | Haas Factory Team |
| 28 | AJ Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing |
| 29 | Noah Gragson | Front Row Motorsports |
| 30 | Zane Smith | Front Row Motorsports |
| 31 | Michael McDowell | Spire Motorsports |
| 32 | Connor Zilisch | Trackhouse Racing Team |
| 33 | Shane van Gisbergen | Trackhouse Racing Team |
| 34 | Kyle Busch | Richard Childress Racing |
| 35 | Ty Dillon | Kaulig Racing |
| 36 | Cody Ware | Rick Ware Racing |
| 37 | Jesse Love | Richard Childress Racing |
| 38 | Chad Finchum | Garage 66 |
| 39 | Joey Gase | NY Racing Team |
| 40 | Daniel Dye | Live Fast Motorsports |
