With rain falling throughout the entire afternoon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, qualifying was rained out, putting defending series champion Brad Keselowski on the pole. The rest of the field will start based on last year’s owners standings as per NASCAR rules.
The rule states that for the first three races, if qualifying is rained out, the field is set based off last year’s owners standings. For the rest of the season, the field will be set by this year’s owner’s standings if qualifying is rained out.
The driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford is fully taking in the perk of being last year’s champion after timing in 12th and 21st during Thursday’s test session.
“That is the first time I have had a decent starting position in a rainout,” he said. “That is great. I feel pretty good about that. I was just thinking when I walked in, with this being Vegas and all, what the odds would be of a rainout in Vegas. I bet that was pretty high. Obviously whenever you can start up front it is a big deal and you get the first pit stall and all those things that make a big difference on pit road. The way our car has been running the last two weeks, and off of what I saw in practice yesterday I feel like we are in position to hopefully keep that for a very long time in the race and hopefully close it out.”
Clint Bowyer will start second, followed by points leader Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne and Greg Biffle. Denny Hamlin will start sixth, followed by rookie Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (who is using Matt Kenseth’s points from last year), Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon. Biffle led the second practice session on Thursday.
Matt Kenseth, who led the morning session, will start 18th as he is using Joey Logano’s points from last year.
Phoenix race winner Carl Edwards will start 16th with Daytona 500 pole sitter Danica Patrick starting 37th.
Mike Bliss will be the only driver that does not make the field for the Kobalt Tools 400.
