Gibbspenalty
(HHP/Tim Parks)

Xfinity Qualifying At Darlington Rained Out

Despite having seen 16 cars make a qualifying run, qualifying for Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Darlington Raceway was rained out Friday.

Attempts were made to dry the track, but multiple holds for lightning forced the cancellation of qualifying ahead of tonight’s Truck Series race.

As a result, the starting lineup was setup based on the rulebook.

Ty Gibbs will start from the pole and Dover winner Josh Berry will start second.

The top five is completed by Justin Allgaier, Noah Gragson and AJ Allmendinger.

Click here for the starting lineup.

Because of how the lineup was set, Cup Series driver Chase Elliott and Brennan Poole failed to qualify for the race.

Elliott, set to drive the No. 88 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports, was attempting to make his first start of the year. Elliott was second on the leaderboard when the rain stopped qualifying.

Practice

Before qualifying, the series held a 20-minute practice session.

The session was led by Noah Gragson, who posted a top speed of 164.87 mph.

The top five was filled out by John Hunter Nemechek (164.79 mph), Gibbs (164.41), Tyler Reddick (163.84) and Allgaier (163.64).

Berry was sixth fastest, while Elliott was seventh. Daniel Hemric was eighth. 

The top 10 was rounded out by Brandon Jones and Sheldon Creed.