NSCS: Kevin Harvick to Start on Pole After Qualifying Rained Out

Rain ended the Sprint Cup Series’ first practice session of the day early at Richmond International Raceway, and it also cancelled qualifying, which means the starting lineup will be set by first practice session speeds.

Kevin Harvick’s fast time in practice of 20.919 puts him on the pole for Sunday’s race. Harvick will be joined by Team Penske driver Joey Logano on the front row.

Jimmie Johnson and Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Carl Edwards and Denny Hamlin will make up the rest of the top-five.

Brad Keselowski will start sixth followed by defending race winner Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch and AJ Allmendinger rounding out the top-10.

Tony Stewart will start 18th in his first race of 2016. Stewart sat out the first eight races of the season due to injury.

With 41 cars on the entry list this weekend, Cole Whitt, the slowest of the “open” cars in practice, will miss Sunday’s race.

2016 NSCS Toyota Owners 400 Starting Lineup

Pos	Car	Driver	Team	Reason
1	4	Kevin Harvick	Busch Light Chevrolet	Charter Team – 129.069
2	22	Joey Logano	Shell Pennzoil Ford	Charter Team – 128.694
3	48	Jimmie Johnson	Lowe’s Pro Services Chevrolet	Charter Team – 128.187
4	19	Carl Edwards	XFINITY Toyota	Charter Team – 128.181
5	11	Denny Hamlin	FedEx Ground Toyota	Charter Team – 128.156
6	2	Brad Keselowski	Thomas Built Buses Ford	Charter Team – 128.011
7	41	Kurt Busch	Monster Energy/Haas Automation Chevrolet	Charter Team – 127.799
8	5	Kasey Kahne	Mountain Dew Chevrolet	Charter Team – 127.334
9	18	Kyle Busch	Banfield Toyota	Charter Team – 127.298
10	47	AJ Allmendinger	Kroger/Bush’s Beans Chevrolet	Charter Team – 127.220
11	3	Austin Dillon	AAA Chevrolet	Charter Team – 127.208
12	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Fifth Third Bank Ford	Charter Team – 125.517
13	20	Matt Kenseth	Dollar General Toyota	Charter Team – 125.307
14	31	Ryan Newman	Grainger Chevrolet	Charter Team – 124.913
15	42	Kyle Larson	Target Chevrolet	Charter Team – 124.861
16	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Mountain Dew Chevrolet	Charter Team – 124.775
17	6	Trevor Bayne	AdvoCare Ford	Charter Team – 124.775
18	14	Tony Stewart	Mobil 1 Advanced Fuel Economy Chevrolet	Charter Team – 124.700
19	16	Greg Biffle	Cheez-It Ford	Charter Team – 124.527
20	44	Brian Scott #	Albertsons Co./Shore Lodge Ford	Charter Team – 124.516
21	10	Danica Patrick	Nature’s Bakery Chevrolet	Charter Team – 124.487
22	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Toyota	Charter Team – 124.481
23	24	Chase Elliott #	Mountain Dew Chevrolet	Charter Team – 124.464
24	43	Aric Almirola	Smithfield Ford	Charter Team – 124.064
25	13	Casey Mears	GEICO Chevrolet	Charter Team – 123.734
26	27	Paul Menard	Duracell/Menards Chevrolet	Charter Team – 123.598
27	1	Jamie McMurray	Credit One Bank Chevrolet	Charter Team – 123.553
28	38	Landon Cassill	The Pete Store Ford	Charter Team – 123.125
29	21	* Ryan Blaney #	Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford	Open Team – 122.566
30	23	David Ragan	sweetFrog Toyota	Charter Team – 122.266
31	30	* Josh Wise	Curtis Key Plumbing Chevrolet	Open Team – 121.995
32	95	Michael McDowell	WRL General Contractors Chevrolet	Charter Team – 121.990
33	34	Chris Buescher #	A&W All American Food Ford	Charter Team – 121.891
34	7	Regan Smith	APC Chevrolet	Charter Team – 121.496
35	55	* Reed Sorenson	ChampionMachinery.com Chevrolet	Open Team – 121.250
36	83	Matt DiBenedetto	E.J. Wade Construction Toyota	Charter Team – 121.131
37	93	* Ryan Ellis(i)	Science Logic Toyota	Open Team – 120.182
38	32	Jeffrey Earnhardt #	corvetteparts.net Ford	Charter Team – 119.458
39	15	Clint Bowyer	5-Hour Energy Chevrolet	Charter Team – 117.842
40	46	Michael Annett	Pilot Flying J Chevrolet	Charter Team – 0.000