NASCAR qualifying results from Talladega: Starting lineup set for Cup Series Round of 8 playoff race

TALLADEGA, Ala. - Drafting tracks in the NASCAR Next Gen era have brought an added onus to fuel saving in addition to the chaos and multiple lines of pack racing that have always existed. 

For Hendrick Motorsports, that means plenty of time and strategy possibilities to find the front of the field. 

Qualifying for Sunday's Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway went into the books on Saturday afternoon. Saturday's qualifying session was made up of two rounds with the top 10 speeds from round one advancing to round two. 

Alex Bowman turned in the 11th-best lap to lead the Hendrick Motorsports contingent in a time of 52.769 seconds. William Byron will lineup just behind him in 13th after a lap of 52.774. Kyle Larson will roll off 19th (52.871) and Chase Elliott will start 25th (52.959). 

The race will be the second in the Cup Series Round of 8. Larson enters Talladega 35 points above the cutline while Byron (minus 15) and Elliott (minus 23) have a bit of work to do over the next two events to advance to the Championship 4. 

Sunday's Cup Series main event at Talladega is set for 2 p.m. and will air on NBC. An Xfinity Series race was set to follow Cup qualifying. 

Here's a look at Sunday's starting lineup as well as the remaining weekend schedule:

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NASCAR starting lineup for Sunday

1. Michael McDowell, No. 71, 52.481
2. Chase Briscoe, No. 19, 52.5
3. Kyle Busch, No. 8, 52.558
4. Austin Cindric, No. 2, 52.563
5. Ryan Preece, No. 60, 52.582
6. Josh Berry, No. 21, 52.614
7. Christopher Bell, No. 20, 52.66
8. Ryan Blaney, No. 12, 52.679
9. Riley Herbst, No. 35, 52.692
10. Bubba Wallace, No. 23, 52.694
11. Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 52.769
12. Cole Custer, No. 41, 52.773
13. William Byron, No. 24 RAPTOR Chevrolet, 52.774
14. Chris Buescher, No. 17, 52.802
15. Tyler Reddick, No. 45, 52.81
16. Joey Logano, No. 22, 52.819
17. Denny Hamlin, No. 11, 52.821
18. Ty Gibbs, No. 54, 52.854
19. Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 52.871
20. Brad Keselowski, No. 6, 52.889
21. Austin Dillon, No. 3, 52.918
22. Justin Haley, No. 7, 52.937
23. Zane Smith, No. 38, 52.945
24. Ross Chastain, No. 1, 52.955
25. Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 52.959
26. Daniel Suarez, No. 99, 52.981
27. Todd Gilliland, No. 34, 52.996
28. John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42, 53.0
29. Ty Dillon, No. 10, 53.009
30. Erik Jones, No. 43, 53.022
31. Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88, 53.098
32. Carson Hocevar, No. 77, 53.113
33. Austin Hill, No. 33, 53.115
34. AJ Allmendinger, No. 16, 53.122
35. Cody Ware, No. 51, 53.245
36. Noah Gragson, No. 4, 53.327
37. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47, 53.43
38. Anthony Alfredo, No. 62, 53.483
39. BJ McLeod, No. 78, 53.632
40. Casey Mears, No. 66, 53.93

What time is NASCAR on today?

Saturday, Oct. 18

• 4 p.m. - Xfinity Series race (CW)

Sunday, Oct. 19

• 2 p.m. - Cup Series race (NBC)

Where is NASCAR racing this weekend? 

The NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series are both running at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend. 

Where is Talladega?

Talladega Superspeedway is in the state of Alabama. 

NASCAR points standings