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As a consequence, with the field set according
to owner points, Kyle Busch will lead the 39 Cup drivers to the
green flag in Sunday's Gander Outdoors 400 at the Monster Mile,
the opening race in the Round of 12 of the Playoffs.
Kevin Harvick will start on the outside of the front row, and
the remaining 10 playoff contenders will line up in owner-points
order on rows two through six.
Busch thought the rainout was a net positive for his No. 18 Joe
Gibbs Racing team, in terms of potential spots gained.
"Probably six or eight spots or so, I believe," Busch said. "It
definitely bodes well for us. I thought we had a decent car in
practice, the way that it felt -- it felt pretty good. It just
didn't show the speed on the speed chart.
"But as practice was going on, and guys were making their second
and third runs, they were kind of coming back to us in lap
times, where our car was really consistent over the run and
running the same lap times...
"It's certainly better for us not to have to go out there and
bust off a really fast lap. Speeds were way high here this
morning (in practice). With cooler temperatures, it seemed like
it was going to be way fast."
Martin Truex Jr. will start from the third spot next to Brad
Keselowski. Only 15 points separate fifth-place starter Clint
Bowyer from 12th-place Alex Bowman, with the next three races
set to determine the drivers who will advance to the Round of 8.
Busch, on the other hand, has a 47-point edge over ninth-place
Chase Elliott, who was fourth fastest in Friday's opening
practice behind Kyle Larson (10th in the Playoff standings),
Harvick and Kurt Busch (seventh).
NASCAR also postponed Friday afternoon's scheduled K&N Pro
Series East Race until 9 a.m. ET on Saturday.
--Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level
Media.
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