An unexpected afternoon thunderstorm rolled over North Wilkesboro Speedway on Saturday, forcing NASCAR to call a halt to the Cup Series qualifying attempt.
How the Grid Was Determined
With the session abandoned, officials turned to a new method for setting the grid, combining each team’s owner points standing with the finish positions from the most recent races to produce a composite ranking.
Ryan Blaney emerged as the beneficiary of that calculation, earning the pole position in the No. 12 Team Penske Ford.
He will be joined on the front row by Ty Gibbs, who drives the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, giving the youngster a strong start to the event.
Behind them, Christopher Bell, Carson Hocevar and Tyler Reddick will round out the top five, a placement that reflects both recent performance and the points-based metric.
The rest of the top ten includes Erik Jones, Denny Hamlin, Shane van Gisbergen, Chris Buescher and Chase Elliott, each of whom will look to capitalize on the shuffled order.
Among the more familiar names, Brad Keselowski, Bubba Wallace, Kyle Larson and Chase Briscoe find themselves further back, slated 23rd, 26th, 27th and 30th respectively, a reminder of how the weather can reshuffle expectations.