Darlington Xfinity qualifying cancelled after lightning

Practice was originally set to get underway at 17:05 ET/07:05 AEST, followed immediately by Qualifying, but cars were prevented from hitting the track due to a lightning hold and then heavy rain.

The starting grid will thus be set per the rule book: a combination of previous race results (25 percent driver, 25 percent owner), owner points (35 percent), and fastest laps from previous race (15 percent).

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer (#00 Ford) and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chandler Smith (#81 Toyota) will share Row 1 for Saturday’s (local time) 147-lap race, with Shane van Gisbergen set to start 17th.

The latter will, of course, now not experience his first real-world laps of the notorious Darlington track until the #97 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet rolls out for the race itself.

Car #97 is this weekend running in a Marcos Ambrose retro livery, evoking memories of the Tasmanian’s two Cup Series race wins, as part of NASCAR throwback weekend.

Race start is officially scheduled at Saturday 13:30 ET/Sunday 03:30 AEST.

The streak has ended at 88.

Xfinity practice and qualifying have been cancelled at @TooToughToTame. https://t.co/RGtThBwYrS pic.twitter.com/jF9uZVzAaU

— Kaulig Racing (@KauligRacing) May 10, 2024