NASCAR Dover 2015 qualifying results: Rainout gives Matt Kenseth pole

Without ever turning a lap Matt Kenseth earned the pole-position for Sunday’s AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway when unrelenting rain washed out all on-track activity Friday.

NASCAR set the field for the Round 1 elimination race of its Chase for the Sprint Cup playoff per owners points. That awarded Kenseth, the current series leader, the pole. Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin will start second. A third JGR driver, Carl Edwards, is third.

Hamlin won the first Chase race Sept. 20 at Chicagoland Speedway, while Kenseth was victorious in the second playoff event last weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. JGR, which also enters cars for Kyle Busch, has won 10 of the past 13 races including four consecutive.

Because of their playoff wins, Hamlin and Kenseth have secured advancement to the second round. The lowest-four ranked drivers among the 16 Chase participants will be eliminated following Sunday’s race.

“It really doesn’t change my approach,” Kenseth said. “I believe that you want to do the best you can every week. You want to keep performing at the same level for the next eight weeks, I guess. I think you want to run up front, you want to be a contender, you want to be in that mix to be in position to try win the race at the end of the day, keep your pit crew performing at a top level.

“I think you just want to keep the whole thing rolling and just keep working at it one week at a time.”

Joey Logano and Jimmie Johnson, who’s won a record 10 Dover races, round out the top-five starters, with Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr. and Jeff Gordon six through 10, respectively.

Defending Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick lines up 15th Sunday, in what is a virtual must-win race to stave off elimination. Harvick had fast cars in the opening two Chase races, but cut a tire and crashed at Chicagoland and then ran out of fuel while leading with three laps to go at New Hampshire. He trails Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the transfer position by 23 points and could mathematically advance to Round 2 without a victory, but too many variables make that an unlikely proposition.

Unfavorable weather is expected to be an issue throughout the weekend. Meteorologist and SB Nation contributor Brian Neudorff estimates between a 40-to-50-percent chance of rain Saturday and 45-to-55-percent on Sunday. The Sprint Cup Series has two scheduled practices Saturday. Sunday’s race is to take the green flag at 2:45 p.m. ET.

All 43 drivers entered earned a spot on the starting grid.

AAA 400 Lineup