Rain has fallen in Talladega, canceling qualifying for this Sunday’s NASCARCup Series Jack Link’s 500. The metric has now set the starting order: 70% of the last race’s owner position, 30% of the current owner points ranking. That metric lands Tyler Reddick in pole position, paired alongside Kyle Larson.
The track is expected to take at least 2 hours to dry, according to Fox Sports’ Bob Pockrass. Talladega also does not run after dark. Given today’s race schedule, which includes the ARCA 76 and the Ag-Pro 300, Cup qualifying cannot happen. The hope is that the rain clears as the day goes on, thus allowing the lower series to hit the track. The expectation is that the Ag-Pro 300 is less than likely to go green, thus projecting a Sunday-morning race.
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The good news is that Sunday’s weather appears quite pleasant. No racing delays are anticipated for the Jack Link’s 500, which will go green just north of 3:00 PM ET.
The unfortunate news is that Casey Mears, who was slated to qualify for his 500th career Cup Series race, will not be in the field. Since Mears is the sole open entry in the field with zero starts for his team, Beard Motorsports, Mears draws the short stick among the 5 open car entries.
Grandstands after the canceled qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Jack Link’s 500. (Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images)
NASCAR at Talladega Qualifying Results
|
Starting Position |
Driver |
|
1 |
Tyler Reddick |
|
2 |
Kyle Larson |
|
3 |
Denny Hamlin |
|
4 |
Bubba Wallace |
|
5 |
Chase Briscoe |
|
6 |
Brad Keselowski |
|
7 |
William Byron |
|
8 |
Chase Elliott |
|
9 |
Ty Gibbs |
|
10 |
Chris Buescher |
|
11 |
Ryan Preece |
|
12 |
Carson Hocevar |
|
13 |
Austin Cindric |
|
14 |
Christopher Bell |
|
15 |
Ryan Blaney |
|
16 |
Daniel Suarez |
|
17 |
Riley Herbst |
|
18 |
Austin Dillon |
|
19 |
Todd Gilliland |
|
20 |
Alex Bowman |
|
21 |
Erik Jones |
|
22 |
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. |
|
23 |
John Hunter Nemechek |
|
24 |
Ross Chastain |
|
25 |
Joey Logano |
|
26 |
Josh Berry |
|
27 |
Cole Custer |
|
28 |
AJ Allmendinger |
|
29 |
Noah Gragson |
|
30 |
Zane Smith |
|
31 |
Michael McDowell |
|
32 |
Connor Zilisch |
|
33 |
Shane van Gisbergen |
|
34 |
Kyle Busch |
|
35 |
Ty Dillon |
|
36 |
Cody Ware |
|
37 |
Jesse Love |
|
38 |
Chad Finchum |
|
39 |
Joey Gase |
|
40 |
Daniel Dye |
Top Storylines
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Tyler Reddick searched for his 6th race win of 10 starts on the 2026 season.
-
Chase Briscoe defends his race win as the most recent winner at Talladega Superspeedway.
-
Ty Gibbs aims for his 8th straight top-10 finish.
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This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Apr 25, 2026, where it first appeared in the Racing section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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