Cup lineup for Sunday at Nashville:
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Denny Hamlin will start from the pole position for Sunday's Cracker Barrel 400 after NASCAR canceled Cup Series qualifying at Nashville Superspeedway because of weather.
Weather has already had a major impact on NASCAR’s Nashville Superspeedway weekend.
NASCAR Cup Series qualifying for Sunday’s Cracker Barrel 400 was canceled Saturday because of inclement weather, forcing officials to set the starting lineup using the sport’s performance metric formula.
That decision puts Denny Hamlin on the pole position for Sunday’s race after the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team earned the best metric score in the field. Hamlin will lead the field to green alongside fellow Toyota driver Tyler Reddick, who starts second.
The lineup was determined by NASCAR’s established metric formula, which factors in owner points and recent performance when qualifying cannot be completed.
For Hamlin, the pole comes one week after a third-place showing in the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and gives him valuable track position at one of the most demanding intermediate tracks on the schedule.
The cancellation shuffled the starting order into a metric-based lineup featuring several championship contenders near the front.
The top-10 starters are:
Several playoff hopefuls also received favorable starting positions, including Bell, Larson, Blaney and defending Cup Series champion Logano.
Meanwhile, points leader Reddick will start on the outside of the front row as he looks to continue his impressive 2026 campaign.
Cup lineup for Sunday at Nashville:
The metric-based lineup places many of the sport’s biggest names near the front of the field.
Suárez will roll off third after his victory in last week’s weather-shortened Coca-Cola 600, while Bell and Larson round out the top five. Gibbs starts sixth, giving Joe Gibbs Racing three cars inside the first six starting positions.
Further back in the field, Bubba Wallace starts 18th, Alex Bowman 19th and Chase Elliott 29th. Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe will start 31st.
With qualifying canceled, teams will now turn their full attention toward Sunday’s race, where track position, tire management and strategy are expected to play major roles throughout the 400-mile event.
The Cracker Barrel 400 is scheduled for Sunday night under the lights at Nashville Superspeedway.
Maggie MacKenzie Maggie MacKenzie covers NASCAR for Heavy.com. She previously worked for NASCAR.com, where she reported, wrote, and edited race-weekend coverage and traveled to key events throughout the season. She has more than ten years of experience in sports media and is based in Boston, Massachusetts. More about Maggie MacKenzie
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