Tony Stewart will benefit from leading the standings as he will start from pole position in Sunday's Pocono 500, after rain washed out all track activities for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series on Friday.
Stewart took over from Jeff Gordon at the head of the championship last week at Dover, also promoting his No. 14 car to the top of the owners' rankings at the same time, which determines the starting line-up for the top 35 spots when qualifying is canceled, according to NASCAR rules.
His pole is the second for his newly-formed Stewart Haas Racing team as Ryan Newman had already won the team's maiden pole at Lowe's Motor Speedway two weeks ago, following Stewart's win in the All-Star race.
"Obviously everybody is disapointed that we didn't get on the racetrack today but it worked out well for us and Jeff [Gordon]," said Stewart.
Gordon will share the front row with Stewart, while Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch will start from the second row of the grid. Ryan Newman, a former race winner at Pocono like all those preceding him in the order, will start from fifth place beside Kyle Busch.
Two-time Pocono winner Denny Hamlin will see the green flag wave from seventh place on the grid, while last year's winners at Pocono Carl Edwards and Kasey Kahne will start from 11th and 15th respectively.
Among the non-guaranteed drivers making the field and returning to the Sprint Cup Series this weekend is Canadian Patrick Carpentier, who will start the race from 40th on the grid, thanks to the number of qualifying attempts made by Tommy Balwdwin's team this season.
Derrike Cope, Mike Wallace and Tony Raines did not even get a chance to complete a lap all day long at Pocono and unfortunately they will have to head back home without a chance to try to make the field.
On Saturday Sprint Cup teams should be able to get complete two practice sessions, as there are no predictions of rain. However, there is a 30 per cent chance of occasional showers for Sunday.