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JOLIET, Ill. — Rain altered Friday’s schedule at Chicagoland Speedway and washed out Coors Light Pole Qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
As the top seed in Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, and with his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota seeded first in the corresponding owners’ standings, Kyle Busch will start on the pole at the 1.5-mile track for the first of the 10 playoff races that will decide the 2016 champion.
Busch also will get first pick of pit stalls, with the corresponding advantage of choosing the stall nearest the exit from pit road.
Brad Keselowski, who like Busch recorded a series-best four victories during the 26-race NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regular season, will start on the outside of the front row, as the 16 Chase drivers take the green flag from the top 16 positions, according to respective seeding.
A three-time winner thanks to last Saturday’s victory at Richmond, Denny Hamlin will start third beside Kevin Harvick, the highest-seeded driver with two wins.
Carl Edwards and Martin Truex Jr. will take the green from fifth and sixth, respectively, with Matt Kenseth in seventh, as Toyota drivers occupy five of the top seven starting positions. Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Larson, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, Chris Buescher, Chase Elliott, Austin Dillon and Jamie McMurray are eighth through 16th on the grid, respectively.
Showers dampened the 1.5-mile track Friday, first delaying opening XFINITY Series practice and then forcing the cancellation of Sprint Cup qualifying.
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According to NASCAR officials, the new schedule for Friday was as follows: XFINITY Series practice from 3:15-4:25 p.m. ET (NBC Sports App); NASCAR Camping World Truck Series qualifying at 4:30 p.m ET (on FS1) and a newly scheduled Sprint Cup Series practice from 6:45-7:45 p.m. ET (NBCSN).
Races are scheduled for all three NASCAR national series this weekend, which culminates with Sunday’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM), the opening event of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs. The track has been the host of the Chase opener since the 2011 season.
The weekend also features regular-season finales for the NASCAR XFINITY Series on Saturday and the Camping World Truck Series on Friday night. The XFINITY tour will set its 12-driver field in Saturday’s Drive for Safety 300 (3 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM), and the truck series’ eight-driver postseason grid will be set after Friday night’s American Ethanol E15 225 (8:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM).
NASCAR Wire Services contributed to this report.