Joey Logano starts up front after rain washes out Daytona qualifying
An Independence Day weekend tradition comes to a close this weekend for NASCAR's 2019 Coke Zero Sugar 400 just as a new one begins. The racing at Daytona International Speedway should be markedly different as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is running without restrictor plates here for the first time since 1987. Their new superspeedway package has led to an uptick in speed; Martin Truex Jr. reached a one-lap average of nearly 206 mph during practice. It's easily the fastest these cars have run around the 2.5-mile superspeedway since the plates were first used to slow cars down in the late 1980s.
It would have been interesting to see how much speed was retained in single-car qualifying runs. But Mother Nature reminded us Friday why this July tradition is ending in the first place. Bad weather forced the postponement of pole qualifying for the first time this year, meaning this Saturday's race is set by the NASCAR rule book. The July race has been plagued by summer Florida thunderstorms since moving to primetime, one of many reasons the sport chose to switch it to the fall. Going forward, this race will serve as NASCAR's regular-season finale beginning Aug. 29, 2020.
Points leader Joey Logano will start on the inside of the front row, leading the field to green for the first time ever on a superspeedway. The rest of the grid was aligned by owner points, meaning the fastest cars all season like Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski and others will start up front.
The decision to cancel qualifying was easy as no one was in position to DNQ; just 40 cars showed up to fill the 40-car grid. It's only the fifth time in 18 races the Cup Series has a full field of cars.
1. Joey Logano
2. Kyle Busch
3. Brad Keselowski
4. Kevin Harvick
5. Martin Truex Jr.
6. Denny Hamlin
7. Chase Elliott
8. Kurt Busch
9. Alex Bowman
10. Ryan Blaney
11. Aric Almirola
12. William Byron
13. Kyle Larson
14. Jimmie Johnson
15. Daniel Suarez
16. Clint Bowyer
17. Erik Jones
18. Ryan Newman
19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
20. Paul Menard
21. Austin Dillon
22. Chris Buescher
23. Ty Dillon
24. Daniel Hemric
25. Matt DiBenedetto
26. Ryan Preece
27. David Ragan
28. Michael McDowell
29. Bubba Wallace
30. Corey Lajoie
31. Matt Tifft
32. Quin Houff
33. Landon Cassill (i)
34. Justin Haley (i)
35. BJ McLeod (i)
36. Parker Kligerman (i)
37. JJ Yeley
38. Ross Chastain (i)
39. Brendan Gaughan (i)
40. Joey Gase
(i) - Ineligible to collect Cup Series points
Failed To Qualify
None
QUALIFYING NOTES
- Joey Logano has already won one race from the pole this season, last month at Michigan International Speedway. He'll be attempting to score his first win at Daytona's 2.5-mile tri-oval since the 2015 Daytona 500.
- William Byron (12th) will start from the rear of the field with a backup car after contact with Brad Keselowski during Thursday's practice. Byron was this year's Daytona 500 pole sitter.
- Daniel Hemric (24th) has the best starting spot of any rookie in the field (owner points).
- Quin Houff (32nd) is making his first start with Premium Motorsports' No. 15 car this season and the first Cup superspeedway start of his career. Houff has run nine races with Spire Motorsports' No. 77, posting a best finish of 28th.
- Justin Haley (34th) returns to Spire Motorsports for the third Cup start of his career. He has a best finish of 32nd with the team but was competitive at another superspeedway, Talladega, earlier this season before crashing out late.
- Parker Kligerman (36th) returns with Gaunt Brothers Racing as the team continues its limited schedule of about a dozen races this year.
- JJ Yeley (37th) is back with Rick Ware Racing for his third start in the last five races with the team. He'll run the No. 52.
- Ross Chastain (38th) moves to Premium Motorsports' unchartered No. 27 for this race. Xchange of America has signed on as primary sponsor in a one-race deal.
- Brendan Gaughan (39th) returns for his third of four starts with Beard Motorsports this season. The team only runs the superspeedway races on the schedule.
- Joey Gase (40th) is teaming up with Rick Ware Racing to run their third car, the No. 53. Gase has run five races for Carl Long Racing on the Cup level this year.
NASCAR RACE BREAKDOWN
Race: Coke Zero Sugar 400
Track: Daytona International Speedway (Daytona Beach, Fla.)
Date: Saturday, July 6
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
TV: NBC
Radio: MRN, SIRIUS XM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 160 laps (400 miles)
Stage 1: 50 Laps
Stage 2: 50 Laps
Final Stage: 60 Laps
PRE-RACE ANALYSIS
