Blaney On Daytona Cup Pole After Qualifying Scrapped

Ryan Blaney lines up first for Saturday night's Coke Zero Sugar 400. (Rusty Jarrett/Nigel Kinrade Photography)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Continued lightning in the area Friday at Daytona Int’l Speedway forced the cancellation of Busch Light Pole Qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series.

Numerous resets to the 30-minute “lightning clock” led to the elimination of any possible window to get cars on track prior to Friday night’s scheduled NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the 2.5-mile World Center of Racing.

As a result, the starting lineup for the regular-season finale – the Coke Zero Sugar 400 – was set according to the NASCAR performance metric, which also establishes the qualifying order on a week-to-week basis.

The formula factors in 70 percent of a car’s previous race finish and 30 percent of its current owner points ranking, putting 2023 Cup Series champion and 2021 event winner Ryan Blaney on point for the final race before the 10-race playoff run begins.

Blaney’s No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang Dark Horse will lead the field to green Saturday night in search of a second win on the year and added momentum going into the championship hunt.

“I’d say this place is easier to go forward [late] at than Talladega, because handling tends to be a little bit worse here, so you have cars that have to lift and bail out a bit more and it lets you make runs in that outside lane,” Blaney explained in an evening media session. “It’s nice that we have the track position to start, but the key now is how do you keep it for the second and third stages and set yourself up well for after the pit stops? That’s what we’re all asking ourselves these days.

“I personally wish that it wasn’t this way [with the fuel saving], but that’s what this style of racing is now, and the competition knows that just as well as we do,” he added. “What is nice is having that number-one pit stall going into Saturday night, and hopefully we can keep control of the race after the start.”

Blaney will be joined on the front row by Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman, who currently occupies the final spot in the 16-driver playoff field and only controls his own destiny into the postseason if he drives to victory lane at Daytona.

Bowman is 60 points clear of the playoff cut line and cannot be bumped below the cut line unless there is a new winner in the regular-season finale.

Kyle Larson and Joey Logano start third and fourth, respectively, with Austin Cindric lining up fifth and putting all three Team Penske drivers inside the top five to start Saturday night’s superspeedway spectacle.

Denny Hamlin, Richmond winner Austin Dillon, Daytona 500 winner William Byron, Chase Briscoe, and Brad Keselowski fill out the first five rows of the starting lineup.

Notables buried deeper in the pack include Christopher Bell (15th), Michael McDowell (20th), A.J. Allmendinger (21st), Bubba Wallace (22nd), Chris Buescher (24th), Chase Elliott (30th), and Ryan Preece (31st).

A full 40-car field will take the green flag for a Cup Series race for just the fifth time all season during the regular-season finale.

Broadcast coverage of the Coke Zero Sugar 400 from Daytona is slated for Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. ET, live on NBC, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.