Rain or Shine Denny Hamlin Poised to Lead Bristol Field if Qualifying Gets Washed Out

Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway is the ninth event in the 2025 regular season and the third consecutive race held at a track also featured in the playoffs. Thankfully for fans who endured rain on Friday at the 0.533-mile, high-banked oval in Bristol, Tennessee, there’s only a 4% chance of rain on Saturday, according to The Weather Channel. Practice is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. ET, with qualifying set to follow at 3:05 p.m. ET.

Still, due to Friday’s weather, there’s a chance qualifying could be rained out. If that happens, here’s how the starting grid for the 500-lap Food City 500 would look, based on NASCAR’s new two-variable qualifying metric introduced this season. While typically used to determine qualifying order, the metric is reversed to set the starting lineup if qualifying is canceled.

Projected Starting Lineup at Bristol (If Qualifying Is Canceled):

1. Denny Hamlin – No. 11, Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
2. William Byron – No. 24, Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
3. Christopher Bell – No. 20, Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
4. Tyler Reddick – No. 45, 23XI Racing (Toyota)
5. Ryan Blaney – No. 12, Team Penske (Ford)
6. Chase Elliott – No. 9, Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
7. Chris Buescher – No. 17, RFK Racing (Ford)
8. Ross Chastain – No. 1, Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet)
9. Austin Cindric – No. 2, Team Penske (Ford)
10. Joey Logano – No. 22, Team Penske (Ford)
11. Kyle Busch – No. 8, Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet)
12. Ty Gibbs – No. 54, Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
13. Zane Smith – No. 38, Front Row Motorsports (Ford)
14. Todd Gilliland – No. 34, Front Row Motorsports (Ford)
15. Bubba Wallace – No. 23, 23XI Racing (Toyota)
16. A.J. Allmendinger – No. 16, Kaulig Racing (Chevrolet)
17. Daniel Suarez – No. 99, Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet)
18. Ty Dillon – No. 10, Kaulig Racing (Chevrolet)
19. Erik Jones – No. 43, Legacy Motor Club (Toyota)
20. Ryan Preece – No. 60, RFK Racing (Ford)
21. Noah Gragson – No. 4, Front Row Motorsports (Ford)
22. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – No. 47, Hyak Motorsports (Chevrolet)
23. Shane van Gisbergen – No. 88, Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet)
24. Chase Briscoe – No. 19, Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
25. Austin Dillon – No. 3, Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet)
26. Justin Haley – No. 7, Spire Motorsports (Chevrolet)
27. Michael McDowell – No. 71, Spire Motorsports (Chevrolet)
28. Cole Custer – No. 41, Haas Factory Team (Ford)
29. John Hunter Nemechek – No. 42, Legacy Motor Club (Toyota)
30. Alex Bowman – No. 48, Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
31. Kyle Larson – No. 5, Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
32. Cody Ware – No. 51, Rick Ware Racing (Ford)
33. Carson Hocevar – No. 77, Spire Motorsports (Chevrolet)
34. Josh Berry – No. 21, Wood Brothers Racing (Ford)
35. Brad Keselowski – No. 6, RFK Racing (Ford)
36. Riley Herbst – No. 35, 23XI Racing (Toyota)
37. Jesse Love – No. 33, Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet)
38. Corey LaJoie – No. 01, Rick Ware Racing (Ford)
39. Josh Bilicki – No. 66, Garage 66 (Ford)

Denny Hamlin, who is riding a two-race win streak with victories at Martinsville and Darlington, would start on pole if qualifying is washed out—just as he did when he won last spring’s race at Bristol.