Chase Elliott was named the polesitter for the USA Today 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway after rain forced NASCAR Cup Series qualifying to be cancelled on Saturday afternoon. The field was set per the NASCAR rule book, putting Elliott and Iowa winner Ryan Blaney on the front row.
This is the first time in over a year that rain has forced Cup qualifying to be cancelled, ending a streak of good weather on pole day dating back to the last qualifying rainout at Dover in 2023. Rain projects to be an issue again on Sunday, with the National Weather Service calling for an 80% chance of rain with showers and thunderstorms likely.
NASCAR was able to dry the track for a planned 30-minute practice session following qualifying's cancellation, but practice only ended up running for five minutes before the rain returned and cancelled all remaining on-track activity for Cup cars. Carson Hocevar was fastest in the abbreviated session at a 29.865.
USA Today 301 starting lineup
- #9 - Chase Elliott
- #12 - Ryan Blaney
- #24 - William Byron
- #20 - Christopher Bell
- #48 - Alex Bowman
- #22 - Joey Logano
- #19 - Martin Truex Jr.
- #1 - Ross Chastain
- #6 - Brad Keselowski
- #4 - Josh Berry (R)
- #99 - Daniel Suarez
- #45 - Tyler Reddick
- #47 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- #11 - Denny Hamlin
- #17 - Chris Buescher
- #38 - Todd Gilliland
- #23 - Bubba Wallace
- #54 - Ty Gibbs
- #5 - Kyle Larson
- #77 - Carson Hocevar (R)
- #10 - Noah Gragson
- #3 - Austin Dillon
- #14 - Chase Briscoe
- #51 - Justin Haley
- #34 - Michael McDowell
- #7 - Corey LaJoie
- #21 - Harrison Burton
- #42 - John Hunter Nemechek
- #2 - Austin Cindric
- #8 - Kyle Busch
- #41 - Ryan Preece
- #43 - Erik Jones
- #31 - Daniel Hemric
- #71 - Zane Smith (R)
- #15 - Kaz Grala (R)
- #16 - Ty Dillon