AAA 400 Drive for Autism Qualifying
Date: May 13, 2016
Event: Qualifying for the AAA 400 Drive for Autism (Round 12 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Dover (Del.) International Speedway (1-mile, concrete oval)
Pole Winner: None, qualifying canceled due to rain (field set via NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rule book)
SHR Lineup:
Rain canceled Friday’s qualifying session for the AAA 400 Drive for Autism NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. As a result, the 40-car field for Sunday’s 400-lap event around the 1-mile concrete oval was set by taking the fastest lap each driver posted during Friday’s practice session, per the NASCAR rulebook.
Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), posted the fastest time and will start first. Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Chevrolet for SHR, will start ninth. Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 Nature’s Bakery/Autism Dover Chevrolet SS for SHR, will start 31st. Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Code 3 Associates/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS for SHR, will start 34th.
Harvick’s fast lap in practice was 21.799 seconds at 165.145 mph. Busch turned a lap of 22.004 seconds at 163.607 mph. Patrick stopped the clock in 22.585 seconds at 159.398 mph. Stewart timed in at 22.729 seconds at 158.388 mph.
Patrick suffered a mechanical failure in first Sprint Cup practice that resulted in a three-car wreck on the frontstretch. Patrick, Stewart and Jamie McMurray’s primary cars all suffered substantial damage and as a result each moved to a backup car.
Joining Harvick on the outside of row one is Dale Earnhardt Jr., who timed in at 21.857 seconds at 164.707 mph. Kyle Busch (21.886 seconds at 164.489 mph), Carl Edwards (21.932 seconds at 164.114 mph) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (21.976 seconds at 163.815 mph) comprised the remainder of the top-five.
The AAA 400 Drive for Autism gets underway at 1 p.m. EDT on Sunday with live coverage provided by FOX Sports 1.
-SHR-