Blaney on North Wilkesboro NASCAR pole after qualifying rain out

Ryan Blaney will start from the pole for the first NASCAR Cup Series points race at North Wilkesboro Speedway in nearly 30 years.

Blaney was awarded the pole after a severe thunderstorm rolled through the area and canceled qualifying. The Team Penske driver is the most recent winner on the circuit from EchoPark Speedway.

“A great lap,” Blaney joked. “I look forward to [Sunday]; I’ve enjoyed coming here the last few years for the All-Star Race. I was excited when they announced there was going to be a points race here because I feel like this place has done a really good job not only revitalizing the facilities, but they do a really good job of fan experiences, and it puts on a really good race, too.

“It’s a long race, for sure, tomorrow night - 450 laps is a long way. But it’s going to be a good show, so I’m excited, and I think it’s very well deserving of a points race.”

Ty Gibbs will share the front row with Blaney. Christopher Bell will start third, Carson Hocevar will start fourth, and Tyler Reddick will start fifth.

Erik Jones will start sixth, point leader Denny Hamlin will start seventh, and Shane van Gisbergen will start eighth. Chris Buescher will start ninth, and Chase Elliott will start 10th.

Joey Logano starts 11th, followed by Austin Dillon starting 12th and William Byron starting 15th. Further back on the starting grid will be Brad Keselowski in the 23rd position, Alex Bowman in the 25th position and Bubba Wallace starting from the 26th position.

Kyle Larson will start 27th, Chase Briscoe will start 30th, and Connor Zilisch will start 32nd.

The last time NASCAR ran a points race at North Wilkesboro was in Sept. 1996. It has been the site of the All-Star Race for the last three years, with Larson (2023), Logano (2024), and Bell (2025) claiming those events.

There are 37 teams entered for Sunday’s race, which will be the longest Cup Series race ever run at the track, at 450 laps. Chad Finchum in the Garage 66 entry is the only Open driver in the field.

Ross Chastain will have to serve a pass-through penalty at the start of the race. Chastain’s car failed inspection three times, and in addition to the penalty, his car chief was ejected and his Trackhouse Racing team lost pit stall selection.

Austin Hill’s team from Richard Childress Racing and Connor Zilisch’s team from Trackhouse Racing also lost pit stall selection for the race and had a crew member ejected. Both cars failed inspection twice.

NASCAR will aim to hold a 50-minute practice at North Wilkesboro at 6:30 p.m. ET.