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Kentucky qualifying canceled; Kevin Harvick will start first

Nick Bromberg
·College football and motorsports writer
Kevin Harvick didn't have to qualify to start first (Getty).
Kevin Harvick didn’t have to qualify to start first (Getty).

Midday rain meant the cancellation of Friday’s Sprint Cup qualifying session at Kentucky.

Kentucky Speedway is hosting its first race after the track was repaved and the rain washed out practice time on Friday. While NASCAR could have gotten the track dried before qualifying started, the sanctioning body opted to add in another practice session and cancel qualifying.

Since qualifying for Saturday’s race is canceled, Kevin Harvick will start first. Brad Keselowski starts second and Kurt Busch will start third.

Not only is this the first Cup race at Kentucky with the new pavement, it’s also the second race with NASCAR’s lower downforce experimental rules. The first race, at Michigan, was won by Joey Logano.

The lower downforce, which requires drivers to slow down more in the corners due to less aerodynamic grip, has led to an abnormality. Cars in the Xfinity Series, which races Friday night, are going just as fast around the 1.5-mile track as the Cup cars are.

Denny Hamlin had the fastest speed of Friday’s practice (before the rain came) at 188.285 MPH. The top speed in the final Xfinity Series practice on Thursday was posted by Daniel Suarez at 186.845 MPH. Suarez’s speed would have put him 12th (and ahead of Keselowski, Logano, Martin Truex Jr. and others) on the charts during Cup practice.

It’s incredibly rare for the Xfinity Series to be posting speeds competitive with the Cup Series, especially at an intermediate track. As NASCAR moves to chop downforce off the Cup cars, it can’t ignore the Xfinity Series. The combination of the new pavement and extreme downforce in the Xfinity Series is leading to the speeds comparable to the Cup Series. Perhaps a rules overhaul in NASCAR’s No. 2 series is in order to not only make the racing better, but restore some competitive balance.

Here’s how the field will line up for Saturday night’s Cup race. This is the first race utilizing NASCAR’s new qualifying cancellation format instituted before Daytona. Prior to last week, the speeds from the first practice of the race weekend would have been used to set the field.

Jimmie Johnson crashed during Friday’s practice. But since his team would have qualified its backup car had qualifying been held, he’ll likely be able to keep his starting spot.

  1. 1. Kevin Harvick

  2. 2. Brad Keselowski

  3. 3. Kurt Busch

  4. 4. Joey Logano

  5. 5. Carl Edwards

  6. 6. Kyle Busch

  7. 7. Martin Truex Jr.

  8. 8. Chase Elliott

  9. 9. Jimmie Johnson

  10. 10. Denny Hamlin

  11. 11. Matt Kenseth

  12. 12. Austin Dillon

  13. 13. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

  14. 14. Ryan Newman

  15. 15. Ryan Blaney

  16. 16. Jamie McMurray

  17. 17. Trevor Bayne

  18. 18. Kasey Kahne

  19. 19. AJ Allmendinger

  20. 20. Kyle Larson

  21. 21. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

  22. 22. Tony Stewart

  23. 23. Greg Biffle

  24. 24. Paul Menard

  25. 25. Clint Bowyer

  26. 26. Aric Almirola

  27. 27. Danica Patrick

  28. 28. Casey Mears

  29. 29. Landon Cassill

  30. 30. Ty Dillon

  31. 31. David Ragan

  32. 32. Brian Scott

  33. 33. Regan Smith

  34. 34. Chris Buescher

  35. 35. Matt DiBenedetto

  36. 36. Cole Whitt

  37. 37. Michael Annett

  38. 38. Jeffrey Earnhardt

  39. 39. Reed Sorenson

  40. 40. Josh Wise

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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!