Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona starting lineup: Kyle Larson on pole after qualifying cancelled due to rain

The starting lineup was set by the NASCAR rulebook after rain forced NASCAR to cancel qualifying on Friday

By Steven Taranto

Aug 26, 2022 at 3:13 pm ET • 1 min read

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Heavy rain at the Daytona International Speedway forced NASCAR to cancel qualifying for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 on Friday afternoon, resulting in the starting lineup for Saturday night's race being set by the NASCAR rulebook. As a result, Kyle Larson has been awarded the pole by virtue of the qualifying metric based on the results of last week's race at Watkins Glen.

Larson will start alongside Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott, just one week after contact between the two on the final restart cost Elliott a chance at the victory while giving Larson his second win of 2022. Chris Buescher will start the highest of any driver looking to qualify for the NASCAR playoffs, as he will roll off eighth.

Martin Truex Jr., who can clinch a playoff spot as long as there are no new winners from below the playoff cutoff line, will start 13th. Ryan Blaney, the defending winner of the Coke Zero Sugar 400, starts 16th as he looks to clinch his playoff spot. Blaney can clinch as long as he scores 31 points, which would mean he will clinch by either finishing sixth with no stage points. Blaney can also clinch if he scores 11 more points than Martin Truex Jr. in the first two stages and is 36 points ahead by the end of Stage 2.