After Saturday’s qualifying session for the NASCAR Cup Series was rained out at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell was awarded pole position for Sunday’s Pala Casino 400.
Due to the heavy rain tormenting Southern California, NASCAR officials canceled practice and qualifying for the Cup Series. On-track activity for the Xfinity Series was also canceled, but a decision has yet to be reached about the running of today’s Xfinity Series race.
Starting positions have been set through the metric ranking, which is determined by a driver’s finish in the last race, owner finish, owner points rank and fastest lap rank.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., recent Daytona 500 winner and JTG Daugherty Racing driver, will start alongside Bell on the front row.
Team Penske’s Joey Logano and Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman will start on the second row, while RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher and Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger will share the third row.
Meanwhile, in the Xfinity Series, Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill and Joe Gibbs Racing’s John Hunter Nemechek will start from the front row. Justin Allgaier, Parker Retzlaff, Chandler Smith and Riley Herbst will fill the second and third rows.