Kyle Larson to start first at Kentucky after qualifying rained out
Kyle Larson is on the pole for Saturday night's race at Kentucky.
Qualifying scheduled for Friday afternoon was canceled so Larson gets the top spot because he posted the fastest speed in Friday's practice session. Well, the portion of Friday's practice that happened because of rain. Part of the session was washed out.
Brad Keselowski was second followed by Jeff Gordon, Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr.
Ryan Blaney, Michael McDowell and Travis Kvapil miss the race. The field was set by practice speeds and provisionals are determined by race attempts. Those three drivers' teams have the fewest attempts. Since qualifying was rained out at Daytona, Blaney and McDowell have miss two straight races because of the rule.
If the weather permits, NASCAR would like to hold an additional practice before Friday night's Xfinity Series race. The Cup Series is racing with a new rules package that decreases the downforce on the cars. NASCAR cited the early cancellation of qualifying and the desire to get in another practice session "in the best interest of safety and putting on the best possible event we can here at Kentucky Speedway."
The stance is a departure from 24 hours earler. Thursday, NASCAR ran the Camping World Truck Series race without any practice or qualifying and the field featured many drivers who had never turned a lap a the track. The race also featured – an event not related to the number of rookes – a nasty crash involving Ben Kennedy's truck getting into the catchfence.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
