NASCAR Starting Lineup: Qualifying Results for the Goodyear 400 at Darlington

The NASCARCup Series is on track this weekend for its first race or two at Darlington, the Goodyear 400. Denny Hamlin is the current defending champion of last year’s spring race, the 400-lap event. Chase Briscoe defends the most recent NASCAR victory at Darlington, which was the Southern 500 this past August.

On-track Saturday afternoon was the Cup Series qualifying session, during which there was considerable uncertainty. Between Toyota’s successes, Chevrolet’s challenges, and Darlington being a very testy track to qualify on, the results were hard to project. As expected, the top 10 is a mixed bag of driver names.

Tyler Reddick earns pole position for the Goodyear 400, with Bubba Wallace joining him in the front row. 23XI Racing sweeps the front row for the second time in this 2026 season, seeking their fourth team race win in the first six races of the year.

Tyler Reddick, driver of the #45 Xfinity Toyota, prepares to qualify for the NASCAR Cup Series Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway. (Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images)Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images

(Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images)

Goodyear 400 Qualifying Results


Starting Position	Driver Name	Car Number
1	Tyler Reddick	45
2	Bubba Wallace	23
3	Chase Elliott	9
4	Kyle Larson	5
5	Brad Keselowski	6
6	Chris Buescher	17
7	Ryan Blaney	12
8	Kyle Busch	8
9	Denny Hamlin	11
10	Austin Dillon	3
11	Daniel Suarez	7
12	Austin Cindric	2
13	William Byron	24
14	Riley Herbst	35
15	Justin Allgaier	48
16	Carson Hocevar	77
17	Ryan Preece	60
18	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	47
19	Zane Smith	38
20	Michael McDowell	71
21	John Hunter Nemechek	42
22	Christopher Bell	20
23	Chase Briscoe	19
24	Erik Jones	43
25	Ross Chastain	1
26	Josh Berry	21
27	AJ Allmendinger	16
28	Ty Gibbs	54
29	Joey Logano	22
30	Noah Gragson	4
31	Todd Gilliland	34
32	Connor Zilisch	88
33	Shane van Gisbergen	97
34	Cody Ware	51
35	Cole Custer	41
36	Ty Dillon	10
37	Timmy Hill	66

Great Qualifying Results

Tyler Reddick earns pole position, continuing his dominance in the season, which includes wins in each of the first 3 races. He drove away as the only car to record a sub-29.1 second lap.

Bubba Wallace qualified in 2nd place, rewarding 23XI Racing with a sweep of the front row and Toyota with further aerodynamic dominance. The race, however, will be much more about tire wear and long-run speed than qualifying times.

Further success to Wallace, as he welcomed his new baby into the world this past Thursday.

Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon showed great promise by qualifying both in the top-10, a mark that Richard Childress Racing has been wishfully waiting for, given their awful results season to date.

Bad Qualifying Results

Trackhouse Racing as a whole looks quite slow, posting to the qualifier better than 25th (Ross Chastain). The team currently sits 16th, 20th, and 35th in the driver standings.

Joe Gibbs Racing qualified with 3 cars outside the top-20, perhaps showing a loss of speed relative to their previously dominant Toyotas. Denny Hamlin is the only good qualifier, starting 9th.

This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Mar 21, 2026, where it first appeared in the Racing section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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