Tyler Reddick was awarded the pole position for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 23.
The event’s starting lineup was going to be determined through a single-car, single-lap qualifying session. A total of 39 competitors vying for 39 starting spots cycled around Charlotte Motor Speedway once to post the fastest lap amongst one another. The competitor who posted the fastest single lap was awarded the pole position.
Due to inclement weather, the event’s starting lineup was determined using a qualifying metric formula per the NASCAR rulebook. As a result, Tyler Reddick, driver of the No. 45 Mobil 1/O’Reilly Auto Parts Toyota Camry XSE entry for 23XI Racing, was awarded the top-starting spot for this year’s longest, crown-jewel event on the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series schedule.
Reddick, this year’s Daytona 500 champion from Corning, California, is currently leading in both the driver’s and owner’s standings. He is also coming off a fifth-place result during the latest Cup points-paying event at Watkins Glen International (May 10). This year’s Coca-Cola 600 event will mark Reddick’s third time starting on pole position based on NASCAR’s metric qualifying formula, with his other two instances occurring at EchoPark Speedway in mid-February and Talladega Superspeedway in mid-April.
Reddick will share the front row with Ty Gibbs, the latter of whom finished in third place at Watkins Glen and is ranked in sixth place in the driver’s standings. Shane van Gisbergen, who won at Watkins Glen, will start in third place and share the second row with Michael McDowell, the latter of whom finished in the runner-up spot to van Gisbergen at Watkins Glen. Chase Briscoe, who finished in fourth place at Watkins Glen, will start in fifth place and share the third row with Ryan Blaney, with Blaney finishing in 11th at Watkins Glen.
Chris Buescher, Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon and AJ Allmendinger will start in the top 10, respectively, ahead of Denny Hamlin, who won last weekend’s NASCAR All-Star Race at Dover Motor Speedway.
Notably, Austin Hill, who is driving the No. 33 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry for Richard Childress Racing will start in 13th place. Hill is piloting the entry that has been renumbered from 8 following the death of two-time Cup Series champion and former Coca-Cola 600 champion, Kyle Busch.
In addition, Katherine Legge, who is attempting to become the first female competitor to achieve the Memorial Day ‘Double’ by competing in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day, will start in 37th place for the latter event. Legge is starting in 26th place for this year’s 110th running of the Indianapolis 500.
With 39 competitors vying for 39 starting spots, all made the main event.
Earlier today, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ North Carolina Education Lottery 200 event at Charlotte was postponed a second time from 8 a.m. ET to 9 p.m. ET for Saturday due to inclement weather. The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series’ Charbroil 300 event at Charlotte also had its practice and qualifying sessions, but plans to hold the event at 5 p.m. ET. The Cup Series plans to host a Coca-Cola 600 combined practice session in preparation for Sunday’s main event.
Coca-Cola 600 – Starting Lineup:
- Tyler Reddick
- Ty Gibbs
- Shane van Gisbergen
- Michael McDowell
- Chase Briscoe
- Ryan Blaney
- Chris Buescher
- Austin Cindric
- Austin Dillon
- AJ Allmendinger
- Denny Hamlin
- Ryan Preece
- Austin Hill
- Daniel Suarez
- John Hunter Nemechek
- Chase Elliott
- Christopher Bell
- Kyle Larson
- Zane Smith
- Todd Gilliland
- Erik Jones
- Cole Custer
- Carson Hocevar
- Bubba Wallace
- Connor Zilisch
- Brad Keselowski
- Ross Chastain
- Noah Gragson
- Alex Bowman
- Riley Herbst
- William Byron
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Joey Logano
- Josh Berry
- Ty Dillon
- Timmy Hill
- Katherine Legge
- Cody Ware
- Corey Heim
The 2026 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway is scheduled to occur on Sunday, May 24, and air at 6 p.m. ET on Prime Video, PRN Radio, SiriusXM and HBO MAX.
