Weather Washes Out Cup Qualifying At Talladega, Reddick On Pole

Everything just continues to go Tyler Reddick's way. Even Mother Nature is on the side of the driver, who has scored five wins through the opening nine races of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season, as weather washed out qualifying for the Jack Link's 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Reddick, who had the best performance metric score, will start Sunday's race from the pole position after the cancellation of NASCAR Cup Series qualifying. Reddick, the driver of the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota won the two most recent drafting track events, the Daytona 500 and the following week's race at EchoPark Speedway.

He'll look to take his sixth win of the season from the top qualifying spot.

Kyle Larson, the defending series champion who is seeking his first win of the season, will start from the outside of the front row in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

Denny Hamlin will start the race from the third position, while Bubba Wallace, Reddick's 23XI Racing teammate, will start from the fourth position.

Chase Briscoe, Brad Keselowski, William Byron, Chase Elliott, Ty Gibbs, and Chris Buescher rounded out the top-10 drivers in performance metric scores this week, and will fill out the top-10 of the starting grid for the Jack Link's 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

With 41 cars on the entry list this weekend, that means one driver and team had to pack up their equipment without even getting a chance to turn a lap around the 2.66-mile track this weekend. Casey Mears, who is seeking to make 500 career NASCAR Cup Series starts, is the one driver who failed to make the show, based on the fact that the No. 62 Beard Motorsports team has not competed in any events this year.

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Official Jack Link's 500 Starting Lineup