Sprint Cup qualifying rained out: Harvick and Earnhardt on front row

NASCAR cancelled both the Sprint Cup and truck Series qualifying sessions due to inclement weather. Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. will share the front row for Sunday’s AAA 400 Drive for Autism based on their practice times. 

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Harvick, who currently leads the Cup standings, posted the top speed in first practice — 165.145 mph (21.799-seconds). His time would have beat the track qualifying record had it been run during time trials. 

He said the weather report changed the team’s approach to Friday’s practice. The team unloaded in qualifying trim. 

However, the driver’s overall attitude has changed since joining Stewart-Haas Racing. He earned his first pole at the Monster Mile in 2014 and his first career Cup win came last fall in his 30th attempt. 

“The outlook has been a lot different just coming to this race track since I’ve been at SHR,” Harvick said. “This has been one of our really good race tracks. We’ve had a little bit of bad luck the first couple of times we’ve been here but obviously, it all came together last time in the fall. 

“The car was really fast when we unloaded for practice. So, having that first pit stall definitely helps here and I’m looking forward to the challenge of this particular race track because running every lap is hard to do it the same twice. But it’s a lot of fun. The guys have done a great job of prepping the cars and they hit on some things that we like and have worked well the last couple of years.”

Dale Jr. P2

Earnhardt made a late run in Q-trim and jumped to second on the board with a lap of 164.707 mph. The driver, who won here in 2001, told the crew he was pleased with the balance of his car. 

“Hopefully, we’ll get some practice tomorrow and get to work on the race set up a little bit,” Earnhardt said. “We just ran in qualifying trim today. The car was really close when it came off the trailer but they made some great adjustments and got good speed out of it, got it real comfortable.

“I like this track. It’s challenging to run the way you want to run every lap — lap after lap. It’s a challenge to get the balance figured out during the day, chasing the track a little bit. It’s a tough place to run well at every time you come here but I love the banks and the sides of the track is pretty good, too.”

Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounded out the top-five in first practice. 

Dover favorite Jimmie Johnson starting from deep within the field

Jimmie Johnson, who has 10 wins at Dover, rolls off 21st. It wasn’t the result the six-time cup champ was hoping for. 

“Practice was really short today, obviously, with the issues the SHR cars or I guess the No. 10 car and collected the other two,” Johnson said. “With some rain and stuff we only made three runs.  Things didn’t go as we had hoped in qualifying trim, just those three quick runs we made we were looking for some more balance and comfort in the car. We will see how things progress throughout the afternoon if we get on track to qualify, but as everybody knows the forecast looks good moving forward into tomorrow.  

“Once we get into race trim here and get into a rhythm we will get a better understanding of the aero balance, the tire combination that goes with that and ideally hopefully the smaller spoilers will allow the cars to get closer to one another. The fastest way around this track is really chasing the bottom. If we can run closer to one another and get closer to the car in front of you hopefully it can set-up some more passing.”