NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. — “Great lap,” quipped Ryan Blaney on Saturday as he addressed reporters in the North Wilkesboro Speedway media center.
Of course, there was no lap after rain drenched the 0.625-mile short track and forced the cancellation of qualifying for Sunday’s Window World 450 (7 p.m. ET, TNT Sports, truTV, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
As a result, Blaney will lead the field to green in the first NASCAR Cup Series points race at the track in three decades.
Last Sunday’s winner at EchoPark Speedway, Blaney is third in the series standings, 65 points behind leader Denny Hamlin and 41 behind second-place Tyler Reddick.
With the top starting spot in Sunday’s race, he’s poised to make a dent in those deficits. Nevertheless, there are potential hazards that concern Blaney entering the race, notably the “softer” noses of the Cup cars.
RELATED: At-track photos: North Wilkesboro
“It’s the first race with the new bumper structure, and there’s nothing behind that bumper,” Blaney said. “I mean, all the foam is gone. It’s just body work, so they’re going to be pretty flimsy, for sure.
“Some guys, I think, who have only driven this car, they didn’t get to experience that in the other (previous generation) car, but that stuff is going to be flimsy, so you’re really going to have to be careful on stack-ups, laying the bumper to somebody.”
Ty Gibbs will take the green flag from the second position, with Christopher Bell and Carson Hocevar third and fourth, respectively, on the second row. Reddick is fifth on the grid, followed by Erik Jones, Hamlin, Shane van Gisbergen, Chris Buescher and Chase Elliott.
Blaney faces Bell in the semifinals of the $1-million In-Season Challenge, with Elliott taking on 18th-place starter Todd Gilliland in the other semi.
“I feel like that’s going to be a real heck of a battle between me and Christopher this weekend,” Blaney said. “They run really good on short tracks. We have a history of running really good on short tracks.
“He won the All-Star Race here last year, so he’s going to be really tough competition. So that’s going to be a heck of a battle… It’s been fun to be a part of it, that’s for sure. I got knocked out after Round 1 last year, so it’s been fun to go through the bracket and see who you’re up against.”
Three teams had inspection issues on Saturday. The No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet of Austin Hill and No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet of Connor Zilisch failed pre-race inspection twice and lost pit-stall selection and the services of their car chiefs.
The No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet of Ross Chastain failed three times. In addition to losing pit-stall selection and having car chief David Fero ejected, Chastain must drop to the rear of the field before the start and serve a pass-through penalty after taking the green flag.
Bell tops leaderboard in practice
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell topped Saturday’s delayed 50-minute NASCAR Cup Series practice session at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
The driver of the No. 20 Toyota set the pace at 123.477 mph over teammate Denny Hamlin (123.382 mph) and Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain (123.065 mph).
Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron (122.816 mph) and Chase Elliott (122.809 mph) rounded out the top five.
MORE: Practice results
Ty Gibbs (122.803 mph), Kyle Larson (122.762 mph), Josh Berry (122.749 mph), Joey Logano (122.622 mph) and Chris Buescher (122.522 mph) completed the top 10.
While Chastain was quickest in five-lap average speed, Bell led the 10-, 15-, 20-, 25- and 30-lap averages.