Brooklyn, Mich. - Once again in 2024, Mother Nature was the victor in a NASCAR Cup Series event.
This time around, rain at Michigan International Speedway cut short Cup practice and washed out qualifying on Saturday.
Sunday's race is set for a 2:30 p.m. start on USA Network.
The good news for Hendrick Motorsports? Three of its four drivers will roll off in the top 10 on Sunday after the starting lineup was set by NASCAR's qualifying metric.
Kyle Larson will start fourth in the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and will look for his fourth victory at the 2-mile, D-shaped oval. He won three consecutive races there, visiting victory lane once in 2016 and sweeping two events in 2017.
Just behind him in the outside row will be Chase Elliott, starting sixth in the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevy. Elliott has been a bridesmaid three times in Brooklyn, Michigan, finishing second in both 2016 races and once again in 2017. His average finish of 10.2 at Michigan is best among active drivers.
William Byron will also look to break through in the Irish Hills and will have a ninth-place starting spot in his No. 24 RAPTOR Chevrolet. The 26-year-old from Charlotte, N.C. has three top-12 showings in his last four Michigan starts, including a second-place finish in 2021.
Rounding out the Hendrick Motorsports contingent, Alex Bowman and the No. 48 Ally Racing Team will fire off from the 22nd position. Bowman has three career top-10 finishes at Michigan and came home ninth in 2022.
While practice was abbreviated, all four Hendrick Motorsports cars spent time on track and showed plenty of speed. Each driver turned in a fast lap that ranked in the top seven overall, led by Larson (37.465 seconds) in third. Byron was just 0.012 seconds behind in fourth on the speed chart with Elliott (37.554) sixth and Bowman seventh (37.578).