Just nine points out of the Chase lead, Kyle Larson will start from the pole position in Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race, after a lightning delay forced cancelation of Friday’s Nobody Trashes Tennessee Qualifying qualifying session at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Having finished fifth in the Chase opener at Darlington Raceway before winning last Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway, Larson brings considerable momentum to the third race of the NASCAR Cup Series postseason (7:30 p.m. ET Saturday on USA Network, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

“Always coming into here I feel confident,” said Larson, driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. “I do believe we can come here and have a good weekend. At Darlington, I felt like we were back to being ‘5-team-ish’ in a way. It had been so long since we were battling for a win… So that was fun.”

“To go to Gateway and put on a performance like we did, yeah, I felt like we were getting closer to where we want to be, but still have room to go, for sure—a lot of room to go to be dominant. But at least as far as team prep, execution and all the things it takes, I felt like these first two weeks have gone really strong.”

Chase drivers occupy the first five positions on the starting grid for the Night Race, with Joey Logano lining up next to Larson on the first row in a field set by the rule book (according to metrics) because of the cancellation.

Top seed and Chase leader Denny Hamlin will start third, as he tries to keep Larson at bay. William Byron lines up fourth, followed by Carson Hocevar. Non-Chase drivers Alex Bowman and Ross Chastain will start sixth and seventh, followed by Chase driver Austin Cindric.

Non-Chaser Austin Dillon starts ninth with Chase driver Bubba Wallace 10th on the grid.

Other Chase drivers start as follows: Christopher Bell 12th, Ty Gibbs 13th, Ryan Preece 16th, Tyler Reddick 20th, Chris Buescher 23rd, Chase Briscoe 26th, Chase Elliott 27th, Daniel Suarez 28th and Ryan Blaney 29th.

Gibbs is chasing the rare Bristol Cup double, where a driver wins both Cup races at Bristol in a single season. It's been done 15 times by 10 drivers in BMS history and the last time was in 2009 with the late Kyle Busch. Gibbs is running a special paint scheme in honor of Busch during the weekend and the track is going to have a Lap 18 yellow "Rowdy" towel wave with fans in the stadium.

"Going back with the M&Ms tribute is really cool for Kyle Busch," Gibbs said. "Obviously, I think we'll have a great shot to win it... But also have a great shot to win the rest of them, too.

"Seeing the car in person, I thought it looked awesome," Gibbs said. "I grew up around the M&M's car and being able to see it in person is just so cool, especially with the 54 on it, too."

Bell is third in the Chase standings, 18 points behind Hamlin. Bell is the race's defending winner as he took the checkered flag in the Night Race in 2025. Bell won at Darlington to open the Chase this season. He says Bristol is his favorite track and definitely a crown jewel in his eyes.

“I mean, in my head it is," Bell said. "I would say that, I don’t know, I think that’s for you guys, the media, and for the fans to decide, really, it’s not really on the drivers, but for me, you know, the Bristol Night Race has always been my favorite race of the year. So it is a Crown Jewel to me but I would say that it’s not for us to decide what our Crown Jewels are and what are not crown jewels.”

Bell said there's just something special about Bristol under the lights in September.

“I love Bristol, the track, just because of how it races, and the multiple grooves that it offers, the lap traffic, the long green flag runs, the physical demands that this place has," Bell said. "Then you add The Night Race on top of it with the energy, the atmosphere, all of the pre-race ceremonies that they do here, it just is truly one of a kind. It feels like SM (Speedway Motorsports) just does a really good job with their events and this one’s special.”

Suarez is currently on baby watch for his first child, with NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series driver Justin Allgaier on standby for possible relief duties.

“Hopefully, the baby doesn’t come till Sunday or Monday,” Suarez said. “I think it’s going to come very soon though. Hopefully, it’s not tomorrow.”

- Story by NASCAR Newswire

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NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying
Bass Pro Shops Night Race Starting Lineup
Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol, Tennessee
Friday, September 18, 2026

                1. (5) Kyle Larson (C) @, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                2. (22) Joey Logano (C) @, Ford, 0.000 mph.

                3. (11) Denny Hamlin (C) @, Toyota, 0.000 mph.

                4. (24) William Byron (C) @, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                5. (77) Carson Hocevar (C) @, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                6. (48) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                7. (1) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                8. (2) Austin Cindric (C) @, Ford, 0.000 mph.

                9. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                10. (23) Bubba Wallace (C) @, Toyota, 0.000 mph.

                11. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 0.000 mph.

                12. (20) Christopher Bell (C) @, Toyota, 0.000 mph.

                13. (54) Ty Gibbs (C) @, Toyota, 0.000 mph.

                14. (43) Erik Jones, Toyota, 0.000 mph.

                15. (88) Connor Zilisch #, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                16. (60) Ryan Preece (C) @, Ford, 0.000 mph.

                17. (41) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                18. (16) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                19. (42) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 0.000 mph.

                20. (45) Tyler Reddick (C) @, Toyota, 0.000 mph.

                21. (71) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                22. (97) Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                23. (17) Chris Buescher (C) @, Ford, 0.000 mph.

                24. (34) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 0.000 mph.

                25. (33) Austin Hill(i), Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                26. (19) Chase Briscoe (C) @, Toyota, 0.000 mph.

                27. (9) Chase Elliott (C) @, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                28. (7) Daniel Suarez (C) @, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                29. (12) Ryan Blaney (C) @, Ford, 0.000 mph.

                30. (51) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                31. (47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                32. (21) Josh Berry, Ford, 0.000 mph.

                33. (10) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                34. (35) Riley Herbst, Toyota, 0.000 mph.

                35. (38) Zane Smith, Ford, 0.000 mph.

                36. (4) Noah Gragson, Ford, 0.000 mph.

                37. (66) Josh Bilicki(i), Ford, 0.000 mph.