The NASCAR Cup Series will conclude its weekend with the Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta on Sunday night, a 400‑mile race that brings together the series’ elite drivers on a track renowned for its drafting dynamics. No practice sessions are scheduled, adding extra emphasis on the upcoming qualifying effort.
Saturday’s qualifying sets the stage
Qualifying will take place on Saturday, featuring all 38 drivers in a single group. With no practice scheduled, teams will rely on the metric system to determine the order, and cars are slated to leave the garage and hit the track at 4:30 PM Eastern Time.
BJ McLeod topped the metric scores, earning the pole position with a score of 40.700, while Chad Finchum followed in second at 40.400. Connor Zilisch secured third with 37.100, and veteran Denny Hamlin rounded out the lineup in last place with a score of 2.400.
The remaining drivers, including Austin Hill, Josh Berry, Cole Custer, Cody Ware, Noah Gragson, Ryan Preece, Michael McDowell, Zane Smith, Ricky Stenhouse, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Larson, Austin Dillon, John Hunter Nemechek, Ty Dillon, Shane Van Gisbergen, Brad Keselowski, Ross Chastain, Todd Gilliland, Carson Hocevar, AJ Allmendinger, Erik Jones, Chris Buescher, Riley Herbst, Joey Logano, Austin Cindric, Daniel Suarez, Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott, Bubba Wallace, Ty Gibbs, William Byron, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe, and several others, will line up behind the leaders based on their respective metric scores.