Inclement weather forced the cancellation of NASCAR Cup Series qualifying for the Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, which will result in Tyler Reddick starting from the pole in Sunday’s event. Reddick, who has won five of the opening nine races of the season and is the point leader, had the best performance metric score, which netted him the top starting spot.
Starting Lineup: Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega
Reddick comes into this weekend on a two-race superspeedway winning streak, as he captured the win in the season-opening Daytona 500, and did the same a week later at EchoPark Speedway. Reddick started 26th at Daytona, and first at EchoPark Speedway.
While Mother Nature benefited Reddick on Saturday, the cancellation of Cup qualifying was a bit of rough luck for Casey Mears and the No. 62 Beard Motorsports team, who have failed to qualify for Sunday’s race.
With no prior starts this season, the No. 62 Beard team had the worst performance metric score to fall back on, which made them the 41st car in the order, while only 40 cars can start the race. Mears, who is seeking to make 500 career starts in the NASCAR Cup Series, suffered a blow to that goal on Saturday, but Beard Motorsports posted on X that it will add an event to Mears’ 2026 schedule to make it happen.
It rained on our parade at @TALLADEGA. Qualifying is canceled for rain. With 41 cars trying to make the 40-car field for the #JackLinks500, we are the odd man out as the field is set by current owners’ points. We’ll be back with @CJMearsGang to get him to 500 starts. Stay tuned. pic.twitter.com/tjKfdbddQn
— Beard Motorsports (@BeardOil62) April 25, 2026
Joining Tyler Reddick on the front row for Sunday’s race will be Kyle Larson, the defending series champion. Larson is still searching for his first win since May of last year.
Denny Hamlin, who won at Las Vegas Motor Speedway earlier this season, will start from the third position, and he’ll be joined in Row 2 by Bubba Wallace, who drives the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota.
Chase Briscoe, who won at Talladega last fall, Brad Keselowski, William Byron, Chase Elliott, Ty Gibbs, and Chris Buescher rounded out the top-10 starters for Sunday’s race at the 2.66-mile Alabama superspeedway.
Daniel Dye will make his NASCAR Cup Series debut as his No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet secured the 40th and final qualifying spot in the lineup due to the performance metric.
