By Field Level Media
Sep 06 (NASCAR Wire Service) - DARLINGTON, S.C. -- Inclement weather forced the cancellation of Busch Light pole qualifying at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway on Saturday evening, and no one was happier about the development than 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick, who will now lead the field to green in the Cook Out Southern 500 to open The Chase on Sunday night (5 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
This is the eighth time this season the five-time NASCAR Cup Series race winner
and driver of the No. 45 Toyota will start from the No. 1 position on the grid -- five times through a formal qualifying session and three others as a result of a canceled session due to weather.
"This is literally the best-case scenario for us," said a smiling Reddick, who has now started among the top 10 at every Darlington race throughout his entire four-year career at 23XI Racing.
Reddick led 77 of the 293 laps and won from pole position here in March.
"We were so strong here in the spring," he said. "Ironically enough, as I kind of got going in Cup racing, it was during COVID with no practice at all and I got very used to just having to figure it out in the first corner.
"So for me, generally, I feel like we're in a really good spot most weekends when this happens. But beyond that, as strong as we were, I know teams may want to try things to close the gap, but no one had that opportunity today, so that helps us even more."
Reddick will share the front row with fellow title contender Daniel Suarez in the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet. Chase drivers, Roush Fenway Keselowski's Ryan Preece and championship leader Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing, will roll off third and fourth.
Hamlin, whose five career Darlington wins are the most in the field, won the regular-season title and starts the race with a 25-point advantage on the next-closest competitor in the 16-driver championship field.
Spire Motorsports' Michael McDowell, who is not championship-eligible, will start fifth. He is followed by a pair of Chase drivers, Team Penske's Austin Cindric and JGR's Chase Briscoe, who is the two-time defending race winner and the only other multi-time winner among the field.
Three non-Chase drivers -- HYAK Motorsports' Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Richard Childress Racing's Austin Dillon, and Hendrick Motorsports' Alex Bowman -- round out the top 10 on the grid.
The rainout performance metric has made for an interesting challenge for several of the other Chase drivers. JGR's Christopher Bell starts 11th with Penske's Joey Logano -- a three-time series champion -- 13th on the grid. Reddick's 23XI Racing teammate Bubba Wallace will start 17th alongside Hendrick Motorsports' Chase Elliott -- tops on the grid among the three title- chasing Hendrick team Chevrolets.
Hendrick's William Byron (20th), Penske's Ryan Blaney (24th), JGR's Ty Gibbs (28th), Spire's Carson Hocevar (34th) and RFK's Chris Buescher (35th) round out the Chase field on the 38-car grid.
Logano, Larson and Byron are all former Darlington race winners.
NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying -- Cook Out Southern 500 Darlington Raceway Darlington, South Carolina Saturday, September 5, 2026
1. (45) Tyler Reddick (C) @, Toyota, 0.000 mph. 2. (7) Daniel Suarez (C) @, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph. 3. (60) Ryan Preece (C) @, Ford, 0.000 mph. 4. (11) Denny Hamlin (C) @, Toyota, 0.000 mph. 5. (71) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph. 6. (2) Austin Cindric (C) @, Ford, 0.000 mph. 7. (19) Chase Briscoe (C) @, Toyota, 0.000 mph. 8. (47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 0.000 mph. 9. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph. 10. (48) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph. 11. (20) Christopher Bell (C) @, Toyota, 0.000 mph. 12. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 0.000 mph. 13. (22) Joey Logano (C) @, Ford, 0.000 mph. 14. (21) Josh Berry, Ford, 0.000 mph. 15. (35) Riley Herbst, Toyota, 0.000 mph. 16. (41) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph. 17. (23) Bubba Wallace (C) @, Toyota, 0.000 mph. 18. (9) Chase Elliott (C) @, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph. 19. (42) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 0.000 mph. 20. (24) William Byron (C) @, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph. 21. (34) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 0.000 mph. 22. (67) Corey Heim(i), Toyota, 0.000 mph. 23. (1) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph. 24. (12) Ryan Blaney (C) @, Ford, 0.000 mph. 25. (5) Kyle Larson (C) @, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph. 26. (97) Shane van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph. 27. (10) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph. 28. (54) Ty Gibbs (C) @, Toyota, 0.000 mph. 29. (4) Noah Gragson, Ford, 0.000 mph. 30. (16) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph. 31. (88) Connor Zilisch #, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph. 32. (33) Austin Hill(i), Chevrolet, 0.000 mph. 33. (38) Zane Smith, Ford, 0.000 mph. 34. (77) Carson Hocevar (C) @, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph. 35. (17) Chris Buescher (C) @, Ford, 0.000 mph. 36. (43) Erik Jones, Toyota, 0.000 mph. 37. (51) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph. 38. (66) Chad Finchum (i), Ford, 0.000 mph.
(--Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media)
