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DOVER, Del. -- If practice makes perfect, expect a bit of imperfection Sunday when NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams compete in the Citizen Solider 400 here at Dover International Speedway.
Rain that hampered practice on Friday and forced the cancelation of qualifying continued to be an issue on Saturday. The start of the morning practice was delayed briefly and then cut short, and conditions had not improved in time for the day's final practice to take place.
The result? Two hours or so of track time heading into a race that will determine who remains in contention for this year's Chase for the Sprint Cup and who does not.
Sunday's elimination race (2 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) is the final stop in the opening Field of 16; Charlotte, Kansas and Talladega make up the second round that will see the 12-team field cut to eight.
Austin Dillon, driver of the No. 3 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, is one of four drivers outside the top 12 and facing an early exit. He and Jamie McMurray (Chip Ganassi Racing) trail 12th-place Kyle Larson (CGR) by five points. Tony Stewart (Stewart-Haas Racing) and Chris Buescher (Front Row Motorsports) are 15th and 16th, respectively.
"It is not ideal by any means," Dillon, ninth and 23rd in the two practice sessions, said. "I wish we just had a regular sunny weekend where we could work on the car and really adjust the car, but it hasn't been that.
"We've got to take our knowledge from everything and do our best job to put together a piece on the track that we can go after. We are going to see how it works out."
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With qualifying canceled, the 40-car field was set per the NASCAR rulebook, leaving officials to determine the lineup based on current owner points. That put Brad Keselowski (Team Penske No. 2 Ford) on the pole with Martin Truex Jr. (Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota) completing the front row.
Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Matt Kenseth and defending series champion Kyle Busch will line up on the second row.
Truex and Kevin Harvick (SHR) are the only two drivers who posted wins in the opening round to lock themselves into the Round of 12. Harvick will start sixth, alongside Joey Logano (Team Penske).
Denny Hamlin (JGR) will start seventh and said his No. 11 team has "had our struggles for sure (in) the first practice, trying to get everything set.
"The balance is not where we need it to be so (we) definitely wanted a little bit more track time. We would like to have it ... but we've also got some good teammates as well, so we'll play off that."
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Carl Edwards, the fourth entry out of JGR, said he wasn't worried about the lack of on-track activity. But it's been nearly a decade since the 37-year-old scored his only win on the 1-mile concrete track. He hasn't finished in the top 10 at Dover since 2012 and was 28th here earlier this season.
"My gut (feeling) is we're going to be just fine," Edwards said. "We're going to move through here, go to Victory Lane and move on to Charlotte. But man, this place ... it can bite you. You've got to respect this place so we've got to be smart and think of the big picture."
Those outside the Chase picture said they were no less certain of what to expect when the green flag drops for Sunday's race.
"It's tough," noted Roush Fenway Racing driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr.. "You want to set your car up based off the end of that (final) practice, but you know that the race track is going to get worse than that and it's going to build more rubber than that. So that's what we've been deciphering back and forth."
Stenhouse was second fastest in the lone Saturday session and said he felt good about the speed in his No. 17 Ford. Only Jeff Gordon, subbing for the recovering Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the No. 88 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, posted a faster lap.
"It drove OK and had OK speed," Stenhouse said. "Hopefully we don't mess that up. Sometimes you overthink things and try too much instead of just doing small things and keeping your car close. I think fortunately this weekend we're close and we can fine-tune it."