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Rain cancels Cup qualifying at Indianapolis; Kyle Busch on pole

Inclement weather has put Kyle Busch in position for a third Brickyard 400 win in the past four years.

Jim Utter

Edited: Sep 8, 2018, 11:34 PM

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Rain ambiance on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway pitlane

Rain

Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Camry M&M's White Chocolate

Persistent rain on Saturday forced the cancellation of qualifying for Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, locking Busch into the top starting position for the race for the third consecutive season.

Additionally, the Xfinity Series race has been rescheduled to 10 a.m. ET Monday and the start of the Brickyard 400 on Sunday has been moved up to 1 p.m. ET.

Busch was awarded the pole when the lineup was set by the rulebook, which is primarily based on owner points. Busch won the pole for the race the past two seasons through traditional qualifying.

With victories in 2015 and 2016, Busch is only the second driver to win back-to-back Brickyard 400s (Jimmie Johnson is the other). If he were add a third win in the Brickyard on Sunday, he’d become just one of three drivers with three or more wins in the race (Jeff Gordon and Johnson are the others).

“It certainly was special winning both of the Brickyard races,” Busch said. “I think that, for myself and the No. 18 team, winning there (at IMS) two years in a row was thrilling.

“It was really special as a whole team, and they treat it very special there, as well, with the whole ceremony post-race and everything that goes on there with taking the ride around the track and the owner being with you. J.D. (Gibbs) was there a few years ago. That was pretty cool.

“It is a big deal. I feel like it is for us. For our team, we circle it on the calendar every year – that’s one we want to win.”

Based on owner points, Kevin Harvick will start second, Martin Truex Jr. third, Kurt Busch fourth and Joey Logano fifth.

Rounding out the Top 10 starters are Brad Keselowski, Clint Bowyer, Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney and Denny Hamlin.

Kyle Busch is also looking to wrap up the regular season championship on Sunday. He leads Harvick by 39 points entering the race. The regular season title comes with an additional playoff points to be used in competing for this season’s series championship.

Sunday’s Brickyard 400 is also the last chance for a driver not already qualified for the playoffs to win their way in with a victory.

Take a virtual lap around Indianapolis Motor Speedway with the No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet driven by Chase Elliott courtesy of NASCAR Heat 3. The game is available now and you can order it today:

Cla # Driver 4506 1 18 United States Kyle Busch Toyota 2 4 Kevin Harvick Ford 3 78 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 4 41 Kurt Busch Ford 5 22 Joey Logano Ford 6 2 Brad Keselowski Ford 7 42 Kyle Larson Chevrolet 8 14 Clint Bowyer Ford 9 12 Ryan Blaney Ford 10 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 11 9 Chase Elliott Chevrolet 12 10 United States Aric Almirola Ford 13 20 Erik Jones Toyota 14 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 15 88 Alex Bowman Chevrolet 16 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 17 31 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 18 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 19 21 Paul Menard Ford 20 19 Mexico Daniel Suarez Toyota 21 1 United States Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 22 24 William Byron Chevrolet 23 37 Chris Buescher Chevrolet 24 47 A.J. Allmendinger Chevrolet 25 38 David Ragan Ford 26 34 Michael McDowell Ford 27 95 Regan Smith Chevrolet 28 43 Darrell Wallace Jr. Chevrolet 29 6 Matt Kenseth Ford 30 13 United States Ty Dillon Chevrolet 31 32 Matt DiBenedetto Ford 32 15 Ross Chastain Chevrolet 33 72 Corey Lajoie Chevrolet 34 00 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 35 23 J.J. Yeley Toyota 36 51 David Starr Ford 37 96 Jeffrey Earnhardt Toyota 38 7 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 39 66 United States Timmy Hill Toyota 40 52 B.J. McLeod Ford

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