Dover, NASCAR (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
If qualifying for Sunday afternoon’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover Motor Speedway is rained out, here is what the starting lineup will look like.
The NASCAR Cup Series is set for its one and only yearly trip to Dover Motor Speedway this weekend for the Wurth 400, the 11th of 36 races on the 2023 schedule.
The weather forecast for the weekend does not look promising at all. According to The Weather Channel, there is a 77% chance of rain on Saturday, which could put qualifying in jeopardy.
Should qualifying not be able to take place ahead of Sunday afternoon’s 400-lap race around the four-turn, 1-mile (1.609-kilometer) Dover, Delaware oval, the starting lineup would be set via the metric.
The metric, which used to be used to start every starting lineup back when qualifying wasn’t taking place in late 2020 and throughout 2021, is now used to set the qualifying order (but in reverse order).
It takes into account four factors: the driver’s finish in the most recent race (25%), the car owner’s finish in the most recent race (25%), the car owner’s position in the owner standings (35%), and the rank of the driver’s fastest lap in the most recent race (15%).
The first two categories are combined into one big category weighted at 50% for drivers who drive the same cars from race to race.
If NASCAR Cup Series qualifying is canceled at Dover Motor Speedway, here is how the starting lineup will look.
Provisional Starting Lineup 1st – Kyle Busch 2nd – Christopher Bell 3rd – Ryan Blaney 4th – Brad Keselowski 5th – Chris Buescher 6th – Chase Briscoe 7th – Tyler Reddick 8th – William Byron 9th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 10th – Chase Elliott 11th – Erik Jones 12th – Kevin Harvick 13th – Denny Hamlin 14th – Ross Chastain 15th – Daniel Suarez 16th – Ty Dillon 17th – Martin Truex Jr. 18th – Kyle Larson 19th – Aric Almirola 20th – Austin Cindric 21st – J.J. Yeley 22nd – B.J. McLeod 23rd – Josh Berry 24th – Ty Gibbs 25th – Justin Haley 26th – Joey Logano 27th – Corey LaJoie 28th – Bubba Wallace 29th – A.J. Allmendinger 30th – Ryan Preece 31st – Harrison Burton 32nd – Michael McDowell 33rd – Noah Gragson 34th – Brennan Poole 35th – Todd Gilliland 36th – Austin Dillon
Worse news for NASCAR fans? The forecast for Sunday afternoon is also not pleasant. The Weather Channel indicates that there is a 71% chance of rain.
Last year’s race at Dover Motor Speedway was suspended after several laps were run on Sunday, May 1 and completed on Monday, May 2.
As of now, the Wurth 400 is scheduled to take place on Sunday, April 30, with live coverage set to be provided from Dover Motor Speedway by Fox Sports 1 beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and don’t miss it!