Rain cancels NASCAR Cup qualifying at Charlotte. Coke 600 starting lineup now set

A driver for Michael Jordan’s race team will start on the pole in North Carolina’s biggest race.

Rain canceled NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying Saturday afternoon at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and as a result, Sunday’s starting lineup was set by the rule book. That means Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing will sit on the pole of the Coca-Cola 600. Ty Gibbs of Joe Gibbs Racing will start next to him, in second.

O’Reilly Series star and Richard Childress Racing driver Austin Hill will run in the late Kyle Busch’s stead — not in the No. 8 car, but in the No. 33. Hill will start P13.

Overcast skies and precipitation started Friday evening at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, and scattered showers continued through Saturday. The bad weather has wreaked havoc on the rest of the on-track schedule — postponing the Truck Series race and canceling aspects of the O’Reilly schedule weekend.

The bad weather isn’t expected to slow on Sunday. The latest forecasts provided by AccuWeather.com show a 55% probability of precipitation and a 33% probability of thunderstorms — starting around noon and staying steady through midnight.

Still, at least for now, the Coca-Cola 600 will go on as planned at 6 p.m. Sunday.

The O’Reilly Series saw its qualifying session canceled on Saturday, too, and the Truck Series race was postponed from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday.

Starting lineup for Coke 600 Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway

Instead of a qualifying session, NASCAR weighs three competition-based metrics to set its starting lineup “by the rule book.” That includes owners’ points position, as well as the finish and the fastest lap from the most recently completed race.

Sunday’s starting lineup will be:

This story was originally published May 23, 2026 at 2:02 PM.

Alex Zietlow

The Charlotte Observer

Alex Zietlow writes about the Carolina Panthers and the ways in which sports intersect with life for The Charlotte Observer, where he has been a reporter since August 2022. Zietlow’s work has been honored by the Pro Football Writers Association, the N.C. and S.C. Press Associations, as well as the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) group. He’s earned six APSE Top 10 distinctions for his coverage on a variety of topics, from billion-dollar stadium renovations to the small moments of triumph that helped a Panthers kicker defy the steepest odds in sports. Zietlow previously wrote for The Herald in Rock Hill (S.C.) from 2019-22. Support my work with a digital subscription