Being the No. 1 playoff seed provides advantages, such as being awarded the pole for Sunday’s Chase for the Sprint Cup opener after rain washed out qualifying Friday at Chicagoland Speedway.
NASCAR Chicago 2016 qualifying results: Kyle Busch on pole after rain washes out qualifying
The defending series champ will start first in the opening race of NASCAR’s playoffs.
Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
NASCAR set the starting lineup for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 off points, which gives defending Sprint Cup champion Kyle Busch the preferred spot for the first of 10 playoff races featuring 16 championship-eligible drivers. Busch earned the No. 1 playoff seed with four regular season victories, and will share the front row with No 2 seed Brad Keselowski.
Denny Hamlin, a three-time winner during the regular season, starts third alongside Kevin Harvick. Completing the top 10 are Carl Edwards, Martin Truex Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Joey Logano and Kyle Larson.
Rain began falling around 1 p.m. ET, shortly before the only scheduled Sprint Cup practice session on Friday. To give teams a better opportunity to prepare for Sunday’s race, NASCAR canceled qualifying and will allow drivers to practice. It marked the third straight year rain forced qualifying to be canceled at Chicagoland.
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