Rain Axes Dover Practice and Qualifying; Chase Elliott Starting First

Sunday’s AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover Motor Speedway is destined to produce some edge-of-your-seat action, following the cancellation of practice and qualifying sessions due to inclement weather on Saturday.

With heavy rain pushing into the Dover, Delaware area during the early afternoon, and a NASCAR Xfinity Series event still to run on Saturday, NASCAR was forced to make a tough decision and ax all on-track activity for the NASCAR Cup Series.

The starting lineup for Sunday’s annual trip to the one-mile concrete oval will be determined by the NASCAR Cup Series Rule Book, which dictates that the performance metric (which decides the qualifying order each week) sets the lineup.

After a third-place finish last weekend at Sonoma Raceway, second-place points man Chase Elliott will start from the pole at Dover Motor Speedway, with Chase Briscoe – runner-up and ‘best of the rest’ from last weekend’s event – starting in second-place.

Elliott and Briscoe will be tasked with a unique challenge when the green flag drops on Sunday, as they will be the first drivers to sail their racecars off into the first corner at speed and doing so on a brand-new tire compound for Dover, which has never been tested on the unique racetrack.

STARTING LINEUP: 2025 NCS AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover

That will provide a challenge for the drivers and teams, as nobody will know what constitutes pushing the limits when the green flag drops. There have been tire issues on intermediate racetracks this season, could Sunday’s event at Dover (a track where you don’t want to cut a right-front) have those same issues?

Christopher Bell will roll from third-place on Sunday, with Tyler Reddick and William Byron rounding out the top-five starters. Just behind in sixth will be Shane van Gisbergen, making his first NASCAR Cup Series start at ‘The Monster Mile’.

Michael McDowell, Joey Logano, Ty Gibbs, and Kyle Busch will occupy the remainder of the positions inside the top-10 when the green flag drops on Sunday.

Some notable drivers who will start from outside the top-10 include NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs hopefuls Ryan Preece (11th) Chris Buescher (12th), Brad Keselowski (15th), Alex Bowman (16th), and Bubba Wallace (22nd).

The AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover Motor Speedway will take place Sunday, July 20 at 2:00pm ET on TNT Sports, Performance Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

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