The moment we’ve all been waiting for… has been delayed by rain.
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series drivers and teams will have to wait until Saturday to hit the racetrack at Chicagoland Speedway, after an intense thunderstorm rolled through the Joliet, Illinois-area on Friday, forcing NASCAR to rearrange its on-track schedule.
Practice for the Cuervo 300 at Chicagoland, originally scheduled for 4:30 PM ET on Friday, July 3, has been postponed to Saturday, July 4 at 1:30 PM ET due to inclement weather. With the series having not raced at the mile-and-a-half racetrack since 2019, the sanctioning body decided practice was more important than time trials.
Thus, qualifying for Saturday’s 300-miler has been canceled. The starting lineup for the event will be set by the NASCAR Rule Book, which says that the order the field starts in on Saturday will be determined by the Performance Metric.
Connor Zilisch will start on the pole for Saturday’s event, driving the No. 1 KOA Kampgrounds Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports. Zilisch will share the front row with NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series rookie Brent Crews.
Carson Kvapil will roll from the third position in the No. 9 for JR Motorsports, with Corey Day in fourth, and Viking Motorsports driver Parker Retzlaff completing the top-five. Defending NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series champion Jesse Love will start sixth, with Anthony Alfredo, Sheldon Creed, Sam Mayer, and Sammy Smith rounding out the top-10.
NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver, Chase Elliott, making his first start of the season in the No. 88 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet for JR Motorsports, will start 11th with Myatt Snider in 12th. Other notables starting outside the top-10 include William Sawalich (13th), Austin Hill (16th), NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series points leader Justin Allgaier (17th), Taylor Gray (25th), Brandon Jones (29th), and Rajah Caruth (32nd).
