JOLIET, Ill. - Kevin Harvick will start the 2015 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup from the same position he ended last year’s playoff—in the No. 1 spot.
When torrential rains at Chicagoland Speedway wiped out Friday’s time trials at the 1.5-mile track, Harvick earned the Coors Light Pole position for Sunday’s MyAFibRisk.com 400 by virtue of having posted the fastest lap during opening practice.
With heavy rains forecasted for the afternoon, most drivers focused on mock qualifying runs during practice, anticipating the field for the opening Chase race would be set according to practice speeds. Harvick was the only driver to top 188 mph in the opening session, running a lap at 188.317 mph.
Joey Logano, a Championship 4 competitor in 2014, will start on the outside of the front row, after running 187.911 mph in practice. With Brad Keselowski third quickest and Martin Truex, Jr. fourth, Chase drivers claimed the top four starting spots and six of the top seven.
Ryan Newman will start sixth and Kyle Busch seventh in the 400-mile event.
“First off,” Harvick said, “I’m just most proud of my team for having a fast race car and coming to the track and having a plan and doing all the things that they did to pay attention to the weather and put a lot of emphasis on trying to lay a fast lap down, just like everybody else, to get a good starting position with the way that the weather was.”
Logano and his team spent the entire 85-minute practice session in qualifying trim, expecting time trials to be rained out.
“We looked at the forecast and knew there was a good chance of rain,” Logano said. “Any time that happens, you focus in on qualifying in practice a little bit more. We haven’t been in race trim yet… Really, I felt like it was qualifying during practice.
“We were really trying to top the chart, because we really felt like that was where we were going to start—at the end of practice.”
Harvick, on the other hand, started in race trim to get a feel for the track before he moved to a qualifying setup.
“We started in race trim because (Crew chief) Rodney (Childers) and I felt like this is one of those places… it’s a hard place to drive around because it’s so rough, and the timing and rhythm of the race track is something that, as a driver, you need to be able to get into that rhythm before you go into qualifying trim.”
Two Chase drivers who failed to post strong practice speeds—Clint Bowyer and Denny Hamlin—will start 26th and 29th, respectively, in Sunday’s race. Other Chasers secured spots on the grid as follows: Kurt Busch, ninth; Jeff Gordon, 10th; Jimmie Johnson, 11th; Matt Kenseth, 12th; Jamie McMurray, 13th; Carl Edwards, 14th; Paul Menard, 16th; and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., 19th.
A major casualty of the cancellation was Ryan Blaney, who was ninth fastest in opening practice in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford but will not start the race under rainout rules (because of fewer qualifying attempts this year). This is the third time this season Blaney has been knocked out of a race by rain.
Michael McDowell and Travis Kvapil also failed to make the 43-car field.
WDUN will have live MRN Radio of the first race in The Chase for the Sprint Cup, Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series MyAfibRisk.com 400 from Chicagoland Speedway beginning at 2 pm on 102.9 FM.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Chicagoland Speedway – Joliet, IL
myAFibRisk.com 400 – Sept. 18, 2015
Sunday's Starting Line-Up
1. (4) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 2015 Owners Points 5th.
2. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 2015 Owners Points 4th.
3. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 2015 Owners Points 9th.
4. (78) Martin Truex, Jr., Chevrolet, 2015 Owners Points 10th.
5. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 2015 Owners Points 21st.
6. (31) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 2015 Owners Points 14th.
7. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 2015 Owners Points 2nd.
8. (5) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 2015 Owners Points 18th.
9. (41) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 2015 Owners Points 7th.
10. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 2015 Owners Points 13th.
11. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 2015 Owners Points 1st.
12. (20) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 2015 Owners Points 3rd.
13. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 2015 Owners Points 12th.
14. (19) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 2015 Owners Points 8th.
15. (47) A.J. Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 2015 Owners Points 22nd.
16. (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 2015 Owners Points 15th.
17. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 2015 Owners Points 20th.
18. (42) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 2015 Owners Points 19th.
19. (88) Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Chevrolet, 2015 Owners Points 6th.
20. (43) Aric Almirola, Ford, 2015 Owners Points 17th.
21. (33) Brian Scott(i), Chevrolet, 2015 Owners Attempts 26 – 37th.
22. (9) Sam Hornish, Jr., Ford, 2015 Owners Points 26th.
23. (14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 2015 Owners Points 25th.
24. (13) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 2015 Owners Points 23rd.
25. (10) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 2015 Owners Points 24th.
26. (15) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 2015 Owners Points 16th.
27. (17) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Chevrolet, 2015 Owners Points 29th.
28. (55) David Ragan, Toyota, 2015 Owners Points 27th.
29. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 2015 Owners Points 11th.
30. (6) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 2015 Owners Points 28th.
31. (51) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 2015 Owners Points 30th.
32. (7) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 2015 Owners Points 35th.
33. (35) Cole Whitt, Ford, 2015 Owners Points 31st.
34. (26) J.J. Yeley(i), Toyota, 2015 Owners Attempts 26 – 44th.
35. (38) David Gilliland, Ford, 2015 Owners Points 32nd.
36. (40) Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 2015 Owners Points 33rd.
37. (46) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 2015 Owners Attempts 26 – 38th.
38. (34) Brett Moffitt #, Ford, 2015 Owners Points 34th.
39. (83) Matt DiBenedetto #, Toyota, 2015 Owners Points 36th.
40. (32) Josh Wise, Ford, 2015 Owners Attempts 26 – 41st.
41. (23) Jeb Burton #, Toyota, 2015 Owners Attempts 26 – 39th.
42. (98) Reed Sorenson, Ford, 2015 Owners Attempts 26 – 40th.
43. (62) Timmy Hill(i), Chevrolet, 2015 Owners Attempts 26 – 46th.
Did Not Qualify
44. (21) Ryan Blaney(i), Ford, 2015 Owners Attempts 13.
45. (95) Michael McDowell, Ford, 2015 Owners Attempts 15.
46. (30) Travis Kvapil(i), Chevrolet, 2015 Owners Attempts 11.
