Las Vegas Cup qualifying rained out, Keselowski on pole

Fifteen times the Sprint Cup Series has come to Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Fifteen times cars have taken to the 1.5-mile track Friday for qualifying to set the starting field for the race on Sunday.

2013 marks the sixteenth time the Sprint Cup Series has visited LVMS, and it also marks the first time that qualifying has been rained out at the track located in a desert.

When qualifying is washed out, NASCAR sets the starting field based on the NASCAR rule book.

Because there was no practice held due to rain, the field was set by owner points from the 2012 season. That means that 2012 Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski will start from the pole position for Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 400.

“It’s one of the perks of being a champion,” said Keselowski. “Whenever you can start up front, it’s a big deal. That number one pit stall is very important.”

The first 36 cars in the starting field are set by 2012 owner points. From there, it reverts to 2012 or 2013 winning drivers or car owners not already locked in, then to past champions, all of which were already in the field.

Because it’s only race three of the 2013 season, the next starting positions held by Danica Patrick, David Stremme and Michael McDowell would make it because of their position in the 2013 owner points.

From there, the remainder of the starting field is based on number of qualifying attempts which locks in Scott Speed, Landon Cassill, Joe Nemechek, and Josh Wise.

With only 44 cars on the entry list for this weekend, one car would miss the starting field. That car this weekend, and for the second time in 2013, is Mike Bliss.

Kobalt Tools 400 Starting Lineup 

1. Brad Keselowski
2. Clint Bowyer
3. Jimmie Johnson
4. Kasey Kahne
5. Greg Biffle
6. Denny Hamlin
7. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
8. Kevin Harvick
9. Tony Stewart
10. Jeff Gordon
11. Martin Truex Jr.
12. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
13. Kyle Busch
14. Ryan Newman
15. Mark Martin
16. Carl Edwards
17. Paul Menard
18. Matt Kenseth
19. Marcos Ambrose
20. Jeff Burton
21. Joey Logano
22. Aric Almirola
23. Jamie McMurray
24. Kurt Busch
25. Juan Pablo Montoya
26. Bobby Labonte
27. Austin Dillon
28. Travis Kvapil
29. David Ragan
30. Casey Mears
31. David Gilliland
32. David Reutimann
33. Dave Blaney
34. Ken Schrader
35. JJ Yeley
36. Trevor Bayne
37. Danica Patrick
38. David Stremme
39. Michael McDowell
40. Scott Speed
41. Landon Cassill
42. Joe Nemechek
43. Josh Wise