With light but steady rain showers forecast for the morning, NASCAR cancelled Saturday’s Busch Light Pole Qualifying session at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway and set the 40-car field line up for Sunday’s Jack Link’s 500 (3 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) according to a pre-determined metric.
The current NASCAR Cup Series points leader, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick will start his No. 45 Toyota from pole position according to the rule book. He has earned four of his five race wins from pole position this season and if he wins Sunday, would become the first driver since the late NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt to win three consecutive races on drafting style tracks. He’s previously won the Daytona 500 season-opener and at Atlanta’s EchoPark Speedway.
Two-time and reigning series champion Kyle Larson will start his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet alongside Reddick on the front row in pursuit of his career first Talladega trophy. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin will start third in the No. 11 Toyota, with 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace and JGR’s Chase Briscoe rounding out the top-five.
The current winningest driver on the 3.66-mile Talladega high banks, Brad Keselowski will roll off sixth in the No. 6 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford racing for his seventh ‘Dega victory and first anywhere since 2024. Defending Talladega race winner, Penske Racing’s Austin Cindric will roll off 13th in the No. 2 Ford.
“I think it [qualifying] provides you an advantage on pit road and I think anytime you come to these tracks with a 500-mile race you’re going to have to come from behind at some point, come from the back foot at some point, so from a track position standpoint, ideally you’d like to start up front,’’ Cindric said.
“Otherwise having a good pit stall is critically important. We see pit road execution being absolutely critical at these races – all races – but behind able to have an opening or pick who you’re around in a more “earned scenario, I see that as the most important thing missed today.”
There have been 11 different race winners in the last 11 Talladega races. Briscoe won in the series’ last trip to Talladega and would be the first driver since Ryan Blaney (2019-2020) to win in consecutive races here.
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