Rain (and fast practice time) puts Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the pole
Dale Earnhardt Jr. will start from the pole in Sunday night's Coke Zero 400 after Sprint Cup qualifying was rained out Saturday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway.
With NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying about to kick off at Daytona, severe weather moved into the area and put a hold on Saturday's activities.
As lightning and thunder hit the track and surrounding area, NASCAR and DIS officials cleared pit road and the grandstands for the safety of everyone at the facility.
Despite efforts to wait out the storm, NASCAR officially called qualifying on Saturday without a single car hitting the track. Under NASCAR rules, the field for Sunday's Coke Zero 400 was set according to the results of the weekend's first practice session.
Hendrick Motorsports' Earnhardt Jr. will start from the provisional pole, with Austin Dillon scheduled to start second. Clint Bowyer, Paul Menard, Trevor Bayne, David Gilliland, David Ragan, Jamie McMurray and Kasey Kahne will round of the top 10.
Despite posting the 22nd-fastest lap in opening practice, Ryan Blaney's No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford was one of two cars that failed to qualify for the race. Michael McDowell, who was 38th-fastest in the first practice, was the second driver that will not race on Sunday. Under the NASCAR rules, Blaney and McDowell failed to qualify due to having the fewest number of race attempts made.
Check out the complete starting lineup for Sunday's race by row here:
