Josh Berry dominated the final stage of the LCQ to secure his spot. Austin Cindric finished 2nd to grab the final transfer spot. Corey LaJoie (P3) missed the transfer but receives the Provisional based on owner points.
| Row | Pos | Car | Driver | Team / Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | #5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports (POLE) |
| 2 | #24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| 2 | 3 | #54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 4 | #19 | Chase Briscoe | Joe Gibbs Racing | |
| 3 | 5 | #20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 6 | #11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | |
| 4 | 7 | #23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing |
| 8 | #17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing | |
| 5 | 9 | #1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing |
| 10 | #45 | Tyler Reddick | 23XI Racing | |
| 6 | 11 | #9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports (Defending Winner) |
| 12 | #77 | Carson Hocevar | Spire Motorsports | |
| 7 | 13 | #8 | Kyle Busch | Richard Childress Racing |
| 14 | #22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | |
| 8 | 15 | #3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing |
| 16 | #12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | |
| 9 | 17 | #97 | Shane Van Gisbergen | Trackhouse Racing |
| 18 | #60 | Ryan Preece | RFK Racing | |
| 10 | 19 | #88 | Connor Zilisch | Trackhouse Racing (Rookie) |
| 20 | #7 | Daniel Suarez | Spire Motorsports | |
| 11 | 21 | #21 | Josh Berry | Wood Brothers (LCQ Transfer) |
| 22 | #2 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske (LCQ Transfer) | |
| 12 | 23 | #48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports (Points Provisional) |
Joe Gibbs Racing has confirmed strategies involving single-digit tire pressures on left-side tires. By running tires nearly flat, teams maximize the contact patch for mechanical grip on the frozen asphalt. The risk: unseating the bead during cornering load [Source 269].
Goodyear engineering explicitly warns that dynamic RF camber should not exceed -5.5 degrees. With soft spring setups allowing massive travel, exceeding this angle overheats the inside shoulder, leading to instant failure under load [Source 178].
With ambient temps dipping below freezing, brake rotors face thermal shock—heating from 11°F to >1000°F in seconds. This causes catastrophic cracking. In an Impound Race, changing a cracked rotor is a penalty-inducing "can of worms" [Source 232].
The Data: Tire pressure at Bowman Gray builds by 23 PSI during a run. Teams must use dry nitrogen because moisture in standard air vaporizes at race temps, violating "Boyle's Law" and causing erratic pressure spikes [Source 168, 260].
The Drift: The HP bump from 670 to 750HP creates wheelspin on the cold surface. Drivers will have to "drift" the car off corners using throttle control rather than relying on aero grip, increasing the chaos potential on restarts [Source 206].
The Paradox: While fans freeze, Kyle Larson notes the cockpit remains an "oven." Teams must cool the brakes to prevent tire bead melting (at 475°F wheel temp) without over-cooling them into thermal shock failure [Source 102, 179].