Denny Hamlin will start on the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway after qualifying was cancelled due to inclement weather.
Hamlin, who finished second last weekend at Richmond Raceway, will be joined by his 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick to make up the front row.
Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell will roll off third, while Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson starts fourth. Reddick’s 23XI cohort Bubba Wallace rounds out the top five.
Chase Elliott, Ross Chastain (who was quickest in the shortened practice), Ryan Blaney, William Byron and Austin Dillon complete the top 10 in the lineup.
Rain arrived minutes into Saturday’s planned practice session and caused early stoppages before ending it outright after roughly 15 minutes of track time. As the storms intensified NASCAR elected to call off both the remainder of practice and qualifying, placing emphasis on the afternoon’s Xfinity Series race. The lineup was set by the rulebook.
Cup Starting Lineup for Michigan
The FireKeepers Casino 400 is scheduled to run Sunday, Aug. 18 at 2:30 p.m. ET and airs on USA Network.
Joy joined Frontstretch in 2019 as a NASCAR DraftKings writer, expanding to news and iRacing coverage in 2020. She's currently an assistant editor and involved with photos, social media and news editing. A California native, Joy was raised watching motorsports and started watching NASCAR extensively in 2001. She earned her B.A. degree in Liberal Studies at California State University Bakersfield in 2010.