The Cup Series was unable to qualify on Saturday at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, thanks to inclement weather that prompted the sanctioning body to set the field using a formula instead of on-track speeds. As a result, the 2023 Daytona 500 champion, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., will start second in his No. 47 NASCAR Chevy Camaro ZL1.
As a reminder, in the event that qualifying cannot be completed for any reason, the NASCAR Rule Book will instead set the Cup Series field using the following formula, which takes into account an individual driver’s performance in the previous race as well as their respective team’s results:
- Driver’s fastest lap time position (15 percent)
- Driver’s final race position (25 percent)
- Owner’s final race position (25 percent)
- Owner’s points position (35 percent)
Though Stenhouse’s No. 47 NASCAR Chevy won last weekend’s race, the No. 20 Toyota TRD Camry of Christopher Bell had a more consistent performance throughout the Daytona 500, which is why Bell has the pole position and Stenhouse will start second. Meanwhile, last weekend’s second-place finisher, the No. 22 Ford Mustang of Joey Logano, will take the green flag from third place, with the No. 48 Camaro of Alex Bowman starting beside him in fourth. The No. 17 Mustang of Chris Buescher will round out the top five.
It’s worth noting that Sunday’s Cup Series race will be the final race held at Fontana’s two-mile oval configuration. Plans are in the works to tear the speedway down and reconfigure it into a short track similar to Martinsville Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway in the near future.
The green flag is scheduled to drop on the Cup Series race at Fontana on Sunday, February 26th at 3:30 p.m. ET, weather permitting.
| Pos | Car Number | Driver | Team | Time | Speed | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Sirius XM Toyota | 0 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 2 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | Ralphs/Tree Top Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 3 | 22 | Joey Logano | AAA Southern California Ford | 0 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 4 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 5 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Pala Casino Ford | 0 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 6 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Farmsmart Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 7 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Freeway Insurance Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 8 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Kubota Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 9 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Wurth Ford | 0 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 10 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | GEARWRENCH Ford | 0 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 11 | 51 | Cody Ware | Biohaven Ford | 0 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 12 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | NEGU Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 13 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota | 0 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 14 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr | Reser's Fine Foods Toyota | 0 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 15 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 16 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Castrol Edge Ford | 0 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 17 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Smithfield Ford | 0 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 18 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | Leidos Toyota | 0 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 19 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Menards/Quaker State Ford | 0 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 20 | 42 | Noah Gragson # | Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 21 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Lucas Oil Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 22 | 15 | JJ Yeley | ActOne Group Ford | 0 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 23 | 54 | Ty Gibbs # | Monster Energy Toyota | 0 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 24 | 21 | Harrison Burton | DEX Imaging Ford | 0 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 25 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Long John Silver's Ford | 0 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 26 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Horizon Hobby Ford | 0 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 27 | 41 | Ryan Preece | HaasTooling.com Ford | 0 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 28 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Dow Coatings Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 29 | 31 | Justin Haley | LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 30 | 78 | BJ McLeod | American Hartford Gold Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 31 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Rush Truck Centers/MobilDelvac Ford | 0 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 32 | 24 | William Byron | RaptorTough.com Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 33 | 9 | Chase Elliott | NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 34 | 43 | Erik Jones | Allegiant Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 35 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | The Beast Unleashed Toyota | 0 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 36 | 77 | Ty Dillon | NationsGuard Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
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Comments
Wow! they are planning to tear down Fontana and turn it into a short track. Good move, those 1.5 to 2 mile tracks are a snooze fest.
The latest rumors have been they’re going to tear it down and turn it into industrial development. They might make the LA Coliseum a points-paying event in its place.
This seems the most likely outcome. There are no confirmed plans to actually do the short track project and NASCAR has stated that it is “evaluating market interest” in having a race in Fontana. I doubt they’ll make the Coliseum point paying.
I would guess a short track for EVs, thanks to Newsom’s nonsense.
Not really. NASCAR has been trying to get more short tracks on the schedule for a while. But at this point it seems the Fontana project will fall through and its land will be sold off…