Kentucky Qualifying Rainout Puts Larson On NSCS Pole

Kyle Larson will start from the pole in Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Kentucky after qualifying was cancelled Friday afternoon. Photo by Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images

Kyle Larson got good news Friday afternoon when NASCAR canceled Sprint Cup Series qualifying for Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 race at Kentucky Speedway.

With the field set by rainout rules, Larson will start on the pole for the 18th Cup race of the season because he posted the fastest time in the only practice the elements have allowed so far this week.

Larson ran a lap at 182.537 mph in a truncated 50-minute practice session that was halted by rain at 11:20 am on Friday. Defending race winner Brad Keselowski will start beside Larson on the front row after posting a practice lap at 181.641 mph.

Taking the green flag from the third position will be Jeff Gordon, who has won a Sprint Cup race at every active track with the exception of Kentucky. Joey Logano will start fourth, followed by Martin Truex, Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Jamie McMurray and Denny Hamlin.

Kyle Busch is ninth, with last week’s Daytona race winner, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., starting 10th.

NASCAR opted to cancel qualifying in favor of giving Cup teams additional practice time with the low-downforce aerodynamic package introduced for the Kentucky race.

NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying also was canceled, putting J.J. Yeley on the pole for Friday night’s scheduled Kentucky 300.

“Looking at all the factors and variables involved, including the fact that we are running a new rules package for the Sprint Cup Series here at Kentucky Speedway, we have determined that this schedule is in the best interests of safety and in the best interests of putting on the most competitive events that we possibly can Friday and Saturday evenings,” NASCAR spokesperson Kerry Tharp said.

Larson was happy that teams got a chance to practice with the new package, even though the session was abbreviated.

“I was glad we got a little bit of track time there,” Larson said. “We were quick off the truck, which I was really proud of my team for, just because we haven’t had any laps on this new package, unlike some other teams that have gotten to do some testing.

“So I was happy with that. We were quick in race trim off the truck, and then we went to mock qualifying trim, and we were really fast. I was able to lay down a really fast lap.”

If the rainout was good news for Larson, it was another blow for Wood Brothers Racing and driver Ryan Blaney, who was one of three competitors (along with Michael McDowell and Travis Kvapil) who failed to make the field based on a lower number of qualifying attempts this year.

Blaney was knocked out of the race by rain for the second straight week.

“The rules are the rules,” said team co-owner Eddie Wood. “In the event of a rainout, they set the field by attempts, which means how many races you’ve attempted to race this year. So us and the 95 (McDowell) have attempted less races than 43 other guys, so we’re the ones that are out, but that’s not a new rule. It’s been that way for as long as I can remember, and then they set the field by the practice speeds.

“A lot of times people get it confused with how it works, but we’ve gone a long time and not missed a race with weather. Missing races, if you’re slow and you miss a race because you’re not fast enough, is a bad deal. That just kills your soul, but you can’t do anything about the weather. We’ve been really lucky for the past seven years and haven’t missed one, but now the numbers seem to be leveling out. I’ve always heard that numbers always level out, and that’s kind of what’s going on.

“We’re going to run next week at Loudon, so we’ll head up that way and hope we don’t get rained out. I’m going to stop looking at weather apps, I tell you that. I’m done as far as that is concerned.”

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Kentucky Speedway – Sparta, KY
Quaker State 400 – July 10, 2015

Starting Line Up

1. 42 Kyle Larson Target Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points 17th
2. 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Ford 2015 Owner Points 8th
3. 24 Jeff Gordon AARP Member Advantages Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points 10th
4. 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil/AutoTrader Ford 2015 Owner Points 5th
5. 78 Martin Truex, Jr. Furniture Row/Visser Precision Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points 6th
6. 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Pro Services Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points 4th
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8. 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Office Toyota 2015 Owner Points 12th
9. 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Crispy Toyota 2015 Owner Points 21st
10. 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Nationwide Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points 2nd
11. 3 Austin Dillon DOW Styrofoam Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points 22nd
12. 43 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 2015 Owner Points 16th
13. 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points 3rd
14. 27 Paul Menard Quaker State/Menards Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points 13th
15. 4 Kevin Harvick Budweiser/Jimmy John’s Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points 1st
16. 20 Matt Kenseth Dollar General Toyota 2015 Owner Points 9th
17. 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Fifth Third Bank Ford 2015 Owner Points 28th
18. 9 Sam Hornish, Jr. Advanced Auto Speed Perks Ford 2015 Owner Points 26th
19. 5 Kasey Kahne LiftMaster Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points 11th
20. 19 Carl Edwards Comcast/Minions Toyota 2015 Owner Points 18th
21. 13 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points 23rd
22. 14 Tony Stewart Rush Truck Centers Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points 25th
23. 10 Danica Patrick GoDaddy Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points 20th
24. 47 A.J. Allmendinger Kroger/Scott Products Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points 24th
25. 55 David Ragan Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 2015 Owner Points 29th
26. 31 Ryan Newman Caterpillar Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points 14th
27. 16 Greg Biffle Ortho Ford 2015 Owner Points 19th
28. 6 Trevor Bayne AdvoCare Ford 2015 Owner Points 27th
29. 46 Michael Annett Pilot/Flying J Chevrolet ’15 Owner Atpts 17 – 39th
30. 15 Clint Bowyer Hughes General Contractors/Casey’s Toyota 2015 Owner Points 15th
31. 7 Alex Bowman Advance Auto Parts/Quaker State Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points 34th
32. 51 Justin Allgaier Fraternal Order of Eagles Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points 30th
33. 35 Cole Whitt Kentucky Fried Chicken Ford 2015 Owner Points 31st
34. 38 David Gilliland Love’s Travel Stops Ford 2015 Owner Points 32nd
35. 26 Jeb Burton # Maxim Fantasy Sports Toyota ’15 Owner Atpts 17 – 43rd
36. 40 Landon Cassill(i) CRC Brakleen Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points 35th
37. 98 Josh Wise Big Red Ford ’15 Owner Atpts 17 – 38th
38. 34 Brett Moffitt # Dockside Logistics Ford 2015 Owner Points 33rd
39. 83 Matt DiBenedetto # Anest Iwata Toyota ’15 Owner Atpts 17 – 37th
40. 32 Will Kimmel III CorvetteParts.net Ford ’15 Owner Atpts 17 – 41st
41. 23 J.J. Yeley(i) TraqGear/Coolshirt Toyota ’15 Owner Atpts 17 – 40th
42. 62 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet ’15 Owner Atpts 17 – 45th
43. 33 Alex Kennedy # Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points 36th