It’s part of the game when NASCAR comes to Daytona International Speedway, and on Saturday, Mother Nature wasn’t having it.
Qualifying for Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series season-opening United Rentals 300 has been canceled after inclement weather attacked the Daytona Beach, Flordia-area on Saturday morning.
The starting lineup for the first Xfinity Series event of the season will be set by NASCAR’s Rule Book.
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It’s just part of the game whenever NASCAR comes to Daytona International Speedway, and on Saturday, Mother Nature would not be denied.
After an early-morning sprinkle in Daytona Beach, Florida, the NASCAR Xfinity Series was able to get its qualifying session started ahead of Saturday’s United Rentals 300.
However, after the first 12 cars completed their qualifying runs, the precipitation returned, ultimately forcing the sanctioning body to ax the session, in favor of other on-track activities coming later in the afternoon.
Garrett Smithley, driving the No. 14 Chevrolet, was on the provisional pole at the time of the session’s cancellation, with Joey Gase in the runner-up spot. CJ McLaughlin was third-quickest at the time of the caution.
Now, the starting lineup for Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series season-opener at Daytona will be set by the NASCAR Rule Book, with last season’s owner points determining the lineup.
Defending NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier will lead the field to the green flag when the race gets underway, with a pair of rookies, Taylor Gray and Christian Eckes, in second and third.
Austin Hill, winner of the last three Daytona season-opening events in the Xfinity Series, will roll from fourth place, with another rookie in William Sawalich rounding out the top five.
Sheldon Creed, Brandon Jones, Sam Mayer, Jesse Love, and Carson Kvapil will round out the top-10 starters for the event.
With 41 drivers entered for Saturday’s season-opener, three teams were forced to back up their things and head back to North Carolina.
Carson Ware (No. 74 Mike Harmon Racing), CJ McLaughlin (No. 92 DGM Racing), and JJ Yeley (No. 29 RSS Racing) will fail to qualify for the event.
