Rain's effects wash out Pocono activity

LONG POND, Pa. -- It wasn't raining Friday at Pocono Raceway, but Winston Cup practice and Bud Pole Qualifying was still canceled because of rain.

Heavy overnight rains -- measuring up to eight inches through the last five days in some areas, three inches on Thursday night -- saturated the ground, causing water to seep through the asphalt in some areas of the 2 1/2-mile track. Jet dryers took to the track at approximately 9 a.m. ET Friday to blow the moisture off the racing surface.

Friday's skies were partly cloudy after several days of rain. Credit: Autostock

Once the track was dried, water started coming through in Turn 3 and in various other portions of the race track, as well. The 11:20 a.m. practice session was pushed back and as of the scheduled qualifying time of 3 p.m., no cars had turned a lap on the track.

"We kept trying to get the track dry enough to practice but the water kept coming through," NASCAR spokeswoman Danielle Frye said. "The track crew did a great job, but Mother Nature won this battle with all the ground water from the rains. So we'll just practice as scheduled Saturday and line them up by owner points for Sunday."

NASCAR rules state that a practice session must be run before qualifying can be held.

As a result, Sterling Marlin will start in the top spot, with rookie Jimmie Johnson alongside.

"We came to test here a few weeks ago and it rained then, too," Marlin said. "They had the same problem then with water coming up in Turn 3."

Marlin joked about "winning" the pole without even turning a wheel.

There was nothing to do but sit and wait in the garage area. Credit: Autostock

"Heck, that was a heck of a lap," he said, laughing. "This will certainly help our qualifying average, the way we've been doing that lately.

"For the motor builder's sake, this was one of the tracks we were worried about working it with the one-engine rule this year. This will keep about 50- 60 miles off the motors that we would have put on otherwise.

"But,our motor guys have told me that our engines have been looking real good after some of these long races. So we're feeling good about this weekend."

All 43 cars at the track made the starting lineup.