NASCAR at Chicagoland 2016: Complete Race Order After Qualifying Canceled

Rainy weather at Chicagoland Speedway forced NASCAR to cancel qualifying for Sunday's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 and line up drivers based on their current playoff seeding. Kyle Busch will start on the pole for the first race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup.  

In addition to Busch, the top five will also feature Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards. 

Here's the full starting lineup for Sunday's race:

Position	Driver
1	Kyle Busch
2	Brad Keselowski
3	Denny Hamlin
4	Kevin Harvick
5	Carl Edwards
6	Martin Truex Jr.
7	Matt Kenseth
8	Jimmie Johnson
9	Joey Logano
10	Kyle Larson
11	Tony Stewart
12	Kurt Busch
13	Chris Buescher
14	Chase Elliott
15	Austin Dillon
16	Jamie McMurray
17	Alex Bowman
18	Ryan Newman
19	Kasey Kahne
20	Trevor Bayne
21	AJ Allmendinger
22	Ryan Blaney
23	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
24	Greg Biffle
25	Danica Patrick
26	Paul Menard
27	Aric Almirola
28	Clint Bowyer
29	Casey Mears
30	Michael McDowell
31	Landon Cassill
32	David Ragan
33	Regan Smith
34	Brian Scott
35	Matt DiBenedetto
36	Cole Whitt
37	Michael Annett
38	Joey Gase
39	Reed Sorensen
40	Josh Wise

What's at Stake?

In addition to seeking bragging rights, the Sweet 16 will look to keep their championship dreams alive in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. 

Busch will be the favorite to win a title by virtue of being the defending Sprint Cup Series champion. He's tied with Keselowski for most wins this season (four) and is third with 11 top-five finishes. 

Busch had a good run during a practice session on the track before the rains came, and before his engine failed him, via NASCAR on NBC:

There's no margin for error on Busch's part because he's tied with Keselowski atop the point standings this season with 2,012. Keselowski has him beat in top-five finishes (12-11) and top-10 finishes (17-16) this season. 

Keselowski, the 2012 Sprint Cup champion, has not finished higher than fifth in the standings over the last three seasons.

Speaking to reporters earlier this week (via Jim Utter of motorsport.com), Keselowski noted some of his past close calls and where things stand this year heading into the Chase:

"

I have had a handful of years now to reflect back on it and I don’t know if I feel like the driver that deserves to win the championship always wins the championship. I have kind of taken some solace in that.

I felt like Jimmie (Johnson) and I were probably equal in 2012 and I won it. I felt I deserved to win it in 2014 and I didn’t. In my heart, I feel good about where I am at and where our team is and the things that we have done.

"

The Chase format does benefit drivers who get off to a slow start since they have three races before the field is cut.

That is still a compressed window of time compared to the first 26 races, so the 16 drivers fighting for a championship need to put their best foot forward on the track in Joliet, Illinois. 

The weather is expected to clear up before Sunday, with Weather.com listing Joliet as having a 50 percent chance of rain on Saturday and just a 10 percent chance on race day. 

This is the moment every NASCAR driver has been building toward. Now, 16 of them have a chance at immortality, with Sunday being the start of that quest.