Qualifying for the Xfinity Series race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California was canceled due to rain, and thus, the starting lineup for Saturday’s race was set using the NASCAR rule book. Since the NASCAR Ford teams had a relatively uneventful Xfinity Series race at Daytona last week, that means no Blue Oval-badged racer will start within the top five, according to the qualifying formula.
As a reminder, in the event of a rained-out qualifying session, the NASCAR Rule Book outlines the following formula based on an individual driver’s performance and their respective team’s results in the previous race in order to set the Xfinity Series field:
- 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)
Therefore, the NASCAR Ford with the best starting position will be the No. 98 Mustang driven by Riley Herbst, who also posted the best finishing position last weekend at Daytona. Looking down the list, the next-best Ford, the No. 0 Mustang of Cole Custer, will start eighth. The rest of The Blue Oval’s teams are starting deep in the field. As the winner of last weekend’s race, the No. 21 Chevy Camaro of Austin Hill will start on the pole position.
Weather permitting, the green flag will drop on the Xfinity Series race at Fontana at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, February 25th. It’s worth noting that this weekend’s races will be the final events held on the speedway as a two-mile oval, as it will be torn down and reconfigured into a short track in the near future.
| Pos | Car Number | Driver | Team | Time | Speed | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 21 | Austin Hill | Bennett Transportation Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 2 | 20 | John Hunter Nemechek | Vons/Albertsons Toyota | 0 | 0 | Toyota Supra |
| 3 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | BRANDT Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 4 | 31 | Parker Retzlaff # | FUNKAWAY Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 5 | 16 | Chandler Smith # | Quick Tie Products Inc Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 6 | 98 | Riley Herbst | Monster Energy Ford | 0 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 7 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Contractor Rewards/State Water Heaters Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 8 | 0 | Cole Custer | Production Alliance Group Ford | 0 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 9 | 92 | Josh Williams | Call 811/Alloy Employer Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 10 | 9 | Brandon Jones | Menards/Patriot Lighting Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 11 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | PacWest First Pacific Funding Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 12 | 8 | Gray Gaulding | North South Machinery/Panini Ford | 0 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 13 | 18 | Sammy Smith # | Pilot Flying J Toyota | 0 | 0 | Toyota Supra |
| 14 | 19 | Joe Graf Jr. | CoverSeal Toyota | 0 | 0 | Toyota Supra |
| 15 | 10 | Austin Dillon(i) | LA Golf Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 16 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | CMRoofing.com Ford | 0 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 17 | 78 | Anthony Alfredo | Dude Wipes Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 18 | 38 | Kyle Sieg | TopPools.com Ford | 0 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 19 | 8 | Josh Berry | Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 20 | 45 | Rajah Caruth(i) | Circle Pay Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 21 | 2 | David Starr | Our Motorsports Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 22 | 1 | Sam Mayer | Accelerate Pros Talent Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 23 | 48 | Parker Kligerman | Big Machine Racing Spiked Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 24 | 24 | Tyler Reddick(i) | GearWrench Toyota | 0 | 0 | Toyota Supra |
| 25 | 25 | Brett Moffitt | AM Technical Solutions Ford | 0 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 26 | 44 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Jesus Revolution – The Movie Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 27 | 53 | CJ McLaughlin | Sci Aps Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 28 | 28 | Alex Labbe | G Coin/LARUE Ford | 0 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 29 | 26 | Kaz Grala | Fire Department Coffee Toyota | 0 | 0 | Toyota Supra |
| 30 | 6 | Brennan Poole | TeamJDMotorsports.com Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 31 | 2 | Sheldon Creed | Whelen Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 32 | 43 | Ryan Ellis | Costa Oil Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 33 | 7 | Blaine Perkins # | AUTOParkit.com Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 34 | 35 | Joey Gase | OneLegacy/CA Highway Patrol Toyota | 0 | 0 | Toyota Supra |
| 35 | 11 | Daniel Hemric | Poppy Bank Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 36 | 4 | Bayley Currey | KSDT CPA Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 37 | 66 | Timmy Hill(i) | Klutch Vodka Ford | 0 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 38 | 91 | Ross Chastain(i) | JAG Metals LLC Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
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