NASCAR Dover Starting Lineup: Jimmie Johnson, AJ Allmendinger On Front Row After Qualifying Rained Out

Dover favorites Jimmie Johnson and AJ Allmendinger will start in an appropriate position for Sunday’s FedEx 400 at Dover International Speedway: Up front.

NASCAR’s new rainout qualifying procedure was put to use for the first time ever on Saturday, after persistent rains washed out the Sprint Cup Series qualifying session. The lineup was set based on practice speeds from Friday’s two sessions (in the past, rained-out qualifying meant a field set by points).

Jimmie Johnson will start from the No. 1 spot – although it doesn’t count as an “official” pole in the record books – and AJ Allmendinger, who has been strong at Dover but never won a NASCAR race, is the No. 2 starter.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne and Joey Logano round out the top five.

Could Allmendinger go to Victory Lane for the first time on Sunday?

“I don’t know if it’s a race-winning car, because I’ve never won a race,” Allmendinger said. “It’s fast. It’s a potential race-winning car.”

Then Allmendinger turned to Johnson and asked the five-time champion’s opinion because, as he said to Johnson, “You have, what, 197 wins or something?”

Though the starting field was set via practice speeds, the rulebook determined which drivers qualified for the race. Scott Riggs, whose No. 81 team had no owner points, was sent home.

2011 NASCAR Dover starting lineup for Sunday’s FedEx 400: