Qualifying:

2025 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson kicked off 2026 by earning the pole for The Busch Light Clash at Bowman Gray. William Byron qualified 2nd, followed by all 4 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas. Bubba Wallace qualified on row 4 alongside Chris Buescher, who was the best qualifying Ford driver. Ross Chastain and Tyler Reddick rounded out the top-10. Defending event winner, Chase Elliott, and Alex Bowman qualified 11th and 25th, respectively. Bowman held the point provsional which put all 4 Hendrick Motorsports cars in the show.

Carson Hocevar had a solid run, qualifying 12th after making some improvements between practice sessions. His teammate Daniel Suarez rounded out the top-20, just making the cut in his Spire Motorsports debut. All three Trackhouse Racing and both Richard Childress Racing Chevys qualified for the main.

Joey Logano was 14th, and Ryan Blaney was 16th as Team Penske lacked outright qualifying pace. Ryan Preece was the 4th and final Ford to make the show via qualifying. However, Fords made up 3 of the top-4 starting positions for the LCQ. Josh Berry started on pole for the LCQ with Michael McDowell alongside him on the front row.

LCQ: 75 laps

Michael McDowell jumped the race start and was penalized to the rear following a Lap 6 caution. The caution was a result of a stack-up that saw Riley Herbst get turned before taking a hit to his driver’s side door from John Hunter Nemechek.

AJ Allmendinger restarted on the front row with Josh Berry and used the opportunity to take the lead. As the pair built up a lead and caught the tail end of the field, Allmendinger let Berry by to pave the way through the traffic. Herbst took another spin, but the incident did not draw a caution. John Hunter Nemecheck, Corey LaJoie, Austin Cindric, and Ty Dillon were some of the drivers who found themselves battling inside the top-5 during the first half of the 75-lap LCQ.

LaJoie and Cindric established themselves as the chase-down contenders over the long run, and they were able to catch and make the move around Allmendinger in 2nd with around 15 laps to go. The closing laps featured a contact-heavy 3-way duel for the final transfer as Berry sailed away for the LCQ win.

LaJoie and Cindric bumped and door-slammed, and Allmendinger sat patiently waiting to make his move around the leaders. In the final corners, he bumped Cindric, sending him up into LaJoie, and Cindric was able to get the throttle down to secure the position and his spot in the Clash. Bowman was never really in the mix and dropped off the track early, falling back on his 2025 points provisional.

Image via Roush Yates Engines X