Cup Series practice, qualifying rained out; lineup set per rulebook with Alex Bowman on pole

Due to poor weather, NASCAR’s Cup Series and Xfinity Series practice and qualifying sessions were canceled Saturday morning at Richmond Raceway. The NASCAR starting lineups were then set based upon the rule book.

Current NASCAR Cup Series championship leader Alex Bowman will start Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) from pole position in the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, with Kyle Busch completing the front row in the No. 8 Richard Childress Chevy. Defending race winner – and four-time Richmond winner -- Denny Hamlin will start his No.11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota from 11th on the grid.

There have been five different winners in the last five NASCAR Cup Series races at the 0.75-mile Richmond track.

Justin Allgaier – a two-time Richmond winner – will start Saturday afternoon’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race, the ToyotaCare 250 (1 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) from pole position in the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, alongside Joe Gibbs Racing’s rookie Sammy Smith in the No. 18 JGR Toyota.

JR Motorsport’s Sam Mayer and Kaulig Racing’s Daniel Hemric – who will start their Chevys third and fifth, respectively – join Allgaier and Smith in being eligible for the first $100,000 prize from the Dash 4 Cash incentive program this week at Richmond. The top finishing driver among these four (they qualified for the bonus last week at Circuit of The Americas) takes the big check. The top four finishing full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers at Richmond will then be eligible for the next $100,000 at Martinsville Speedway in two weeks.

Ty Gibbs is the defending Richmond race winner, but he is not competing Saturday.