NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series qualifying sessions canceled

NASCAR has canceled the practice and qualifying sessions for both Xfinity and Cup Series scheduled to be held today (February 25). Heavy rain in Fontana and the neighboring areas has forced NASCAR to cancel the session due to safety concerns.

According to the metrics system, Christopher Bell will start on the pole for the Cup Series race and Austin Hill will start on the pole for the Xfinity Series.

NASCAR will use competition-based performance metrics to determine the grid for the Cup Series race. The owner's points position, finish, and fastest lap from the most recently completed race will be weighted and averaged to establish the starting order.

The driver's previous race's points position will get 35% of the weightage, the finishing position gets 50% weightage, and the fastest race lap gets 15%.

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NASCAR releases Cup Series starting lineup for Pala Casino 400

Following the cancelation of the qualifying session, NASCAR released the starting line-up for the final race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana.

Christopher Bell will start on the pole and will be joined by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in the front row. Joey Logano and Alex Bowman will start the race in the second row.

The starting lineup is influenced by the finishing order in the season opener at Daytona. Drivers who crashed out at the Daytona 500 will start the race from the rear end of the grid. Tyler Reddick and Ty Dillon will start in the last row as they crashed out at the Daytona 500.

Here is the complete grid for the Pala Casino 400:

1. #20 Christopher Bell
2. #4 7 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
3. # 22 Joey Logano
4. #48 Alex Bowman
5. #17 Chris Buescher
6. #16 AJ Allmendinger
7. #99 Daniel Suarez
8. #1 Ross Chastain
9. #12 Ryan Blaney
10. #4 Kevin Harvick
11. #51 Cody Ware
12. #7 Corey LaJoie
13. #11 Denny Hamlin
14. #19 Martin Truex Jr.
15. #5 Kyle Larson
16. #6 Brad Keselowski
17. #10 Aric Almirola
18. #23 Bubba Wallace
19. #2 Austin Cindric
20. #42 Noah Gragson
21. #8 Kyle Busch
22. #15 JJ Yeley
23. #54 Ty Gibbs
24. #21 Harrison Burton
25. #38 Todd Gililand
26. #34 Michael McDowell
27. #41 Ryan Preece
28. #3 Austin Dillon
29. #31 Justin Haley
30. #78 BJ McLoed
31. #14 Chase Briscoe
32. #24 William Byron
33. #9 Chase Elliot
34. #43 Erik Jones
35. #45 Tyler Reddick
36. #77 Ty Dillon

The starting grid for the Xfinity Series race has also been released based on performance metrics as Austin Dillon and John H. Nemechek occupy the front row.