Rain and Daytona Beach go hand in hand, and rain on Friday night could result in the cancellation of the single-car qualifying session to set the starting lineup for Saturday night's NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway.
According to The Weather Channel, there is only a 24% chance of showers in Daytona Beach, Florida on Friday, which is pretty standard for this time of year. But in Florida, pop-up showers are always a threat.
The qualifying session at the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked oval is scheduled to get underway at 6:00 p.m. ET.
Should the qualifying session not happen as planned, the starting lineup for Saturday night's 160-lap Coke Zero Sugar 400 would be set by a four-variable metric that NASCAR introduced back in 2020. That metric set the starting lineup for this past week's race at Michigan International Speedway.
A full breakdown of that formula can be found here. It takes into account the car owner's rank in the owner standings (35%), the driver's finish in the most recent race (25%), the car owner's finish in the most recent race (25%), and the rank of the driver's fastest lap in the most recent race (15%).
If qualifying is canceled, here is what the starting lineup will look like.
Daytona starting lineup (if qualifying is canceled)
1st - Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
2nd - William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
3rd - Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
4th - Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford
5th - Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford
6th - Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
7th - Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
8th - Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
9th - Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet
10th - Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford
11th - Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
12th - Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
13th - Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
14th - Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet
15th - Zane Smith, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
16th - Noah Gragson, No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
17th - Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
18th - Ryan Preece, No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
19th - Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
20th - Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
21st - Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
22nd - Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
23rd - Justin Haley, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford
24th - Michael McDowell, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
25th - Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
26th - Josh Berry, No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
27th - Daniel Hemric, No. 31 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
28th - Harrison Burton, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
29th - Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
30th - Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
31st - Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
32nd - Cody Ware, No. 15 Rick Ware Racing Ford
33rd - Todd Gilliland, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford
34th - Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
35th - John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
36th - Shane van Gisbergen, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
37th - Parker Retzlaff, No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet
38th - Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
39th - B.J. McLeod, No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet
40th - Joey Gase, No. 44 NY Racing Team Chevrolet
The Coke Zero Sugar 400 is set to be broadcast live on NBC from Daytona International Speedway beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET this Saturday, August 24. The reigning race winner is RFK Racing's Chris Buescher. Begin a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss any of the action!