Thursday March 28th, 2024 5:05PM

Rained out qualifying gives Earnhardt, Jr. Daytona pole

By Jeff Olson-NASCAR Wire Service

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The cancellation of qualifying for the Coke Zero 400 inadvertently gave NASCAR a popular pole sitter Saturday at Daytona International Speedway.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. will start first Sunday after the cancellation, which lined up the field according to speeds from Friday’s first practice session. Earnhardt, who had a fast lap of 202.284 mph in the No. 88 Chevrolet on Friday afternoon, will start next to Austin Dillon. Clint Bowyer will start third, Paul Menard fourth and Trevor Bayne fifth.

Earnhardt said he and crew chief Greg Ives went after a good time Friday on purpose.

“I asked Greg before we went out for practice what we were trying to accomplish,” Earnhardt said. “That was the first thing he mentioned was to try to go out there on that first run and try to put a lap down because the weather wasn’t looking so good for today. That was his decision, and it ended up working out for us.”

It will be the first time Earnhardt has started from the pole position in nearly two years. He won the pole at Dover in September 2013.

Meanwhile, Jeff Gordon, who’s racing at Daytona for the final time in his career, will start 24th.

“I’m pretty bummed that it rained out,” Gordon said. “We were on a heck of a streak this year with two poles on the superspeedways, and I wanted to keep that going. I felt like yesterday our car had some really good speed and we’d have a good shot of doing that.”

WDUN will have live MRN Radio coverage of Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Car Series Coke Zero 400 from Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. beginning at 6:30 pm on 102.9 FM and 550 AM.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Daytona International Speedway – Daytona Beach, FL
Coke Zero 400 – July 4, 2015

Sunday’s Starting Line Up
(Field Set By Friday’s First Practice Speeds)

1. 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Nationwide Stars and Stripes Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points – 6th
2. 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points – 23rd
3. 15 Clint Bowyer 5-Hour Energy Toyota 2015 Owner Points – 16th
4. 27 Paul Menard NIBCO/Menards Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points – 12th
5. 6 Trevor Bayne AdvoCare Ford 2015 Owner Points – 28th
6. 38 David Gilliland Florida Lottery Ford 2015 Owner Points – 30th
7. 47 A.J. Allmendinger Kroger/Better Than Bouillon Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points – 24th
8. 55 David Ragan Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 2015 Owner Points – 29th
9. 1 Jamie McMurray McDonald’s Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points – 8th
10. 5 Kasey Kahne Great Clips/Shark Week Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points – 9th
11. 9 Sam Hornish, Jr. Twisted Tea Ford 2015 Owner Points – 25th
12. 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Patriotic Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points – 5th
13. 18 Kyle Busch Interstate Batteries Toyota 2015 Owner Points – 21st
14. 34 Brett Moffitt # CSX Play It Safe Ford 2015 Owner Points – 33rd
15. 13 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points – 22nd
16. 42 Kyle Larson Coca-Cola Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points – 17th
17. 31 Ryan Newman Grainger Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points – 14th
18. 46 Michael Annett Pilot Flying J Chevrolet 2015 Owner Attempts
19. 20 Matt Kenseth DeWalt Made in USA Toyota 2015 Owner Points – 10th
20. 78 Martin Truex, Jr. Furniture Row/Visser Precision Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points – 2nd
21. 51 Justin Allgaier TradeMark Nitrogen Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points – 32nd
22. 40 Landon Cassill(i) Snap Fitness Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points – 36th
23. 24 Jeff Gordon Axalta Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points – 11th
24. 19 Carl Edwards Subway Toyota 2015 Owner Points – 18th
25. 16 Greg Biffle Cheez-It Ford 2015 Owner Points – 20th
26. 33 Brian Scott(i) Shore Lodge Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points – 34th
27. 10 Danica Patrick GoDaddy Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points – 19th
28. 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points – 4th
29. 35 Cole Whitt Speed Stick Ford 2015 Owner Points – 31st
30. 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Fifth Third Bank Ford 2015 Owner Points – 27th
31. 14 Tony Stewart Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points – 26th
32. 2 Brad Keselowski Alliance Truck Parts Ford 2015 Owner Points – 7th
33. 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 2015 Owner Points – 3rd
34. 4 Kevin Harvick Jimmy John’s/Budweiser Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points – 1st
35. 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground Toyota 2015 Owner Points – 13th
36. 43 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 2015 Owner Points – 15th
37. 7 Alex Bowman Golden Corral Chevrolet 2015 Owner Points – 35th
38. 32 Bobby Labonte C&J Energy Services Ford 2000 Past Champion
39. 23 J.J. Yeley(i) Dr Pepper Toyota 2015 Owner Attempts
40. 26 Jeb Burton # Maxim Toyota 2015 Owner Attemps
41. 83 Matt DiBenedetto # Dustless Blasting Toyota 2015 Owner attempts
42. 98 Josh Wise Heat Treating Inc./Royal Teak Ford 2015 Owner Attempts
43. 62 Brendan Gaughan(i) Vydox Plus Chevrolet 2015 Owner Attempts

Did Not Qualify
#21 Ryan Blaney(i)
#95 Michael McDowell

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

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