Kevin Harvick on Chicagoland pole after rain cancels NASCAR qualifying

Heavy rain moved over Chicagoland Speedway late Friday afternoon, canceling qualifying for Sunday’s MyAFibRisk.com 400 and forcing NASCAR’s Truck Series race to be moved from Friday night to Saturday morning.

The starting grid for Sunday’s Cup race – the first in the Chase – will be based on Friday’s practice times, meaning 2014 champion Kevin Harvick will start on the pole, with Joey Logano joining him on the front row. Harvick’s time of 188.317 mph set the pace during the 2 1/2 hour practice session earlier Friday.

Harvick and Logano both treated the practice session as if it were qualifying.

“We looked at the forecast and knew there was a chance of rain,” said Logano. “Anytime there’s that, you think about qualifying. So we felt like we were qualifying during practice.”

The green flag for the American Ethanol E15 225 truck race is set for 10:30 a.m. Saturday (Fox Sports 2). Trucks qualifying was also rained out Friday afternoon, meaning Kyle Larson and Matt Crafton will start on the front row. Larson’s practice speed of 175.052 mph was fastest of the day.

Ryan Blaney, Michael McDowell and Travis Kvapil will all miss the race because of low standings in owners points.

The rain was forecast to move through the Chicago area Friday night and by finished Saturday morning. Two Cup practice are scheduled – at 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Saturday. Qualifying for the Xfinity Series’ Furious 7 300 is set for 2:45 p.m., with the race starting at 6 p.m.

Notes

▪ Jeff Gordon will tie Ricky Rudd’s record of most consecutive Cup starts (788) on Sunday. Gordon recalled a time Friday when he and Rudd had an on-track disagreement that eventually patched up on the shores of Lake Norman.

“We were at Charlotte and I was trying to pass him,” said Gordon. “And I had a little difficulty passing him, so I did a big slide-job on him in the middle of (Turns) 3 and 4, and I don’t think he was happy about that. And he basically pushed me all the way down the straightaway and ended-up wrecking both of us by the time we got to Turn 1.

“I showed my displeasure and he showed his displeasure. We had to get in the ambulance together to come back to the Infield Care Center. And we had many, many choice words. Nothing physical, but it got pretty heated.”

Days later, Gordon was at a house he was having built on Lake Norman.

“And a car drove down the driveway; it was still just dirt,” said Gordon. “I was just looking and thinking ‘Oh, I wonder who that is?’ I walk up and realize it’s Ricky and his wife. They were just out and about, looking at houses. And, he wanted to backup, I could tell. He wanted to backup fast.

“But, he didn’t and we kind of laughed and talked about the incident and both apologized and moved on.”

▪ Aspen Dental Management and Stewart-Haas Racing announced an extension of a primary sponsorship for the No. 10 team of Danica Patrick for races in 2016. That further solidifies Patrick’s sponsorship situation. She picked up a 28-race primary sponsorship deal with Nature’s Bakery in August.

This story was originally published September 18, 2015 at 8:46 PM with the headline "Kevin Harvick on Chicagoland pole after rain cancels NASCAR qualifying."