One Driver Will Not Race This Weekend's NASCAR Cup Race At Talladega

This weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series is turning the clock back to 2018.

With 41 cars on the entry list for Sunday’s Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, and only 40 spots available in the starting lineup, one driver and team will have to face the uncomfortable reality of having to pack up their equipment and head home after Saturday’s qualifying session at the 2.66-mile superspeedway.

This will mark the first time since the fall 2018 race at Talladega Superspeedway that a NASCAR Cup Series superspeedway event, outside of the Daytona 500, will have a car fail to qualify for an event.

Who Is At Risk To Miss The Show?

Now, there will be no concern for the 36 Chartered entries, which are guaranteed a starting spot in each race, as part of the Charter Agreement. So, fear not, Tyler Reddick fans. Your driver’s flawless start to the 2026 campaign will not be impeded by a pesky DNQ. And the same goes for any other full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver.

They’re safe and will be battling strictly for their overall starting position for Sunday’s Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

However, the same can’t be said for the five “Open” teams seeking advancement into the field for Sunday’s race. For them, Saturday will be a sweat-fest.

So, who are the “Open” drivers and teams fighting for the four remaining spots in the field?

Jesse Love, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro
Joey Gase, No. 44 NY Racing Team Chevrolet Camaro
Casey Mears, No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro
Chad Finchum, No. 66 Garage 66 Ford Mustang

How will it be determined who will be the one that goes home? Simply, the slowest of the five drivers in Saturday’s qualifying session will not compete in Sunday’s race.

Based on that metric alone, you would expect the final starting spot in the field to come down to a battle between Gase and Finchum, as their two cars typically have less raw speed built into them than the No. 33, 62, and 78 cars. But superspeedway qualifying is always so unpredictable.

One hiccup between man and/or machine can ruin an entire lap around the 2.66-mile superspeedway, where drivers keep their foot mashed to the floor for the entire lap.

Nothing will be decided until each of the five cars have completed their qualifying runs.

What If Qualifying Is Rained Out?

An interesting wrinkle in this weekend’s activities is that weather is expected to play a factor into Saturday’s on-track activity at Talladega Superspeedway. If rain falls at the wrong time, and washes out NASCAR Cup Series qualifying, that throws a massive wrench into everything.

No, the NASCAR Cup Series doesn’t typically make up qualifying on another day/time. If qualifying is rained out, the field is set by the NASCAR Rule Book, which sets the starting lineup by the NASCAR Performance Metric.

The Performance Metric takes into account the performance for each team in the most recent race, as well as the team’s overall 2026 owner points ranking. Based on the performance metric, one of the five “Open” teams falls well shy of making the field.

If qualifying is unable to take place on Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway, Casey Mears and the No. 62 Beard Motorsports team, which has not made a single NASCAR Cup Series start this season, would be the one organization that would miss the race.

Obviously, this would be a huge bummer for Mears, who signed a five-race deal with Beard Motorsports with one thing in mind — reaching the 500 career starts milestone in the NASCAR Cup Series. If Mears misses the show on Sunday, he’ll likely have to add another race to his schedule with Beard Motorsports this season, or he’ll have to hope to make another start in 2026 for Beard or another team.

Adding an interesting layer of the onion that is Mears’ possible DNQ is the fact that the veteran racer drove the No. 66 Garage 66 Ford into the starting lineup for the Daytona 500 back in February, while the No. 62 Beard Chevrolet, driven by Anthony Alfredo, DNQed after Alfredo’s car failed post-race inspection following his Duel qualifier.

Months later, that DNQ for the 62 team at Daytona could be the very thing that knocks them out of the field for the Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

This article was originally published on www.si.com/onsi/racing-america as One Driver Will Not Race This Weekend’s NASCAR Cup Race At Talladega.

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