Daytona NASCAR: Dale Earnhardt Jr on pole as session cancelled
Dale Earnhardt Jr will start on pole position for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Daytona on Sunday night, after qualifying was abandoned due to severe weather
The Hendrick Motorsports driver, who has won three times around the famous Florida track, inherits pole as he was the fastest driver in practice on Friday.
He will start alongside Austin Dillon in second, while Clint Bowyer will line up third ahead of Paul Menard and Trevor Bayne.
Race organisers initially decided to delay the session due to the threat of a severe thunderstorm, and they cancelled it an hour and a half later when lightning began to litter the sky.
It means that Earnhardt secures his first pole of the season, with a lap of 44.492 seconds that beat Dillon by 0.048s on Friday.
Championship leader Kevin Harvick will start down in 34th place, though he is in good company with both Penske Fords and Denny Hamlin around him.
Michael McDowell and Ryan Blaney will take no part on Sunday.
With 45 cars entered for the 43-car field, there had to be two non-qualifiers and under the current rules for rained-out sessions, the drivers who have entered least races so far in the year miss out.
McDowell and Blaney are both on part-time programmes for 2015 and were therefore the unlucky ones this time.
STARTING GRID:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
2 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet |
3 | Clint Bowyer | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota |
4 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet |
5 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford |
6 | David Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford |
7 | A.J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet |
8 | David Ragan | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota |
9 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet |
10 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
11 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford |
12 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
13 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
14 | Brett Moffitt | Front Row Motorsports | Ford |
15 | Casey Mears | Germain Racing | Chevrolet |
16 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet |
17 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet |
18 | Michael Annett | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet |
19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Chevrolet |
20 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
21 | Justin Allgaier | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet |
22 | Landon Cassill | Hillman Smith Motorsports | Chevrolet |
23 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
24 | Carl Edwards | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
25 | Greg Biffle | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford |
26 | Brian Scott | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet |
27 | Danica Patrick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet |
28 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet |
29 | Cole Whitt | Front Row Motorsports | Ford |
30 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford |
31 | Tony Stewart | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet |
32 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford |
33 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford |
34 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet |
35 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
36 | Aric Almirola | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford |
37 | Alex Bowman | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet |
38 | Bobby Labonte | Go FAS Racing | Ford |
39 | J.J. Yeley | BK Racing | Toyota |
40 | Jeb Burton | BK Racing | Toyota |
41 | Matt DiBenedetto | BK Racing | Toyota |
42 | Josh Wise | Phil Parsons Racing | Ford |
43 | Brendan Gaughan | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet |
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