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NASCAR Cup Series qualifying rained out at Michigan, Denny Hamlin on pole

JHby:Jonathan Howard08/17/24

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Mandatory Credit: Mike Dinovo-USA TODAY Sports

The rain proved to be too much for NASCAR to deal with. Cup Series qualifying is canceled and Denny Hamlin gets the pole. The starting lineup is being set by the metric which gives us an interesting group.

Denny Hamlin will lead the field to green. He is joined by Tyler Reddick on the front row. Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, Bubba Wallace, Chase Elliott, Ross Chastain, Ryan Blaney, William Byron, and Austin Dillon.

There were very few laps of practice all things considered. The rain caused too many issues, truth be told.

Austin Dillon gets a good starting spot for his efforts at Richmond. He has had his playoff eligibility taken from him, at least for this win, and the decision is awaiting an appeals process at the moment.

If Dillon goes out and wins another race this weekend, then it won’t matter what the appeal is. That is going to be easier said than done, though. Then again, the last two drivers to win the second Richmond date also won the Michigan race.

First thing first, we have to wait for this rain to get out of the area. Hopefully, all of the rain gets out of the sky today and tomorrow is a beautiful day for racing. Then again, we have an Xfinity race today, so let’s get that sunshine out today, too.

Denny Hamlin opens up about Austin Dillon penalty

Denny Hamlin believes NASCAR penalizing Austin Dillon for wrecking Joey Logano and himself coming to the checkered flag at Richmond last weekend might’ve fixed their playoff system.

NASCAR has been longing for a Game 7-like feeling in their racing week-in and week-out, but Dillon took it to a new level, egregiously wrecking Logano and Hamlin last Sunday for the win.

Speaking with the media ahead of this weekend’s race at Michigan, Hamlin stated his belief that Dillon’s penalty will help with deterring drivers from simply wrecking competitors for wins in the future, although he’d like to see it called more immediately than it was last weekend.

“Man, I certainly hope so,” Hamlin stated, via Jerry Jordan of Kickin The Tires. “I certainly would love to see it called in real time going forward. I think there’s going to be an opportunity in a few weeks, for NASCAR to perhaps use the bottom series to start to set precedents for us, to let us know, to let people know that they’re not going to put up with intentional wrecking over wins.”