NASCAR at Daytona 2015 Qualifying Cancelled: Updated Race Order and Reaction

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has made its way back to Daytona for America's holiday weekend as Independence Day was supposed to be spent qualifying for the Coke Zero 400. 

But Saturday's festivities were delayed and later canceled as qualifying set to start at 4:35 p.m. EST was halted due to severe weather in the area. 

Without a chance to qualify, NASCAR set the starting field for Sunday's race by the drivers' times from their first practice session on Friday.

Continue below for the updated race order with drivers' practice times. For the complete qualifying leaderboard, click here. 

Place	Driver	Practice 1 Time
1	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	44.492
2	Austin Dillon	44.540
3	Clint Bowyer	44.556
4	Paul Menard	44.561
5	Trevor Bayne	44.582
6	David Gilliland	44.597
7	AJ Allmendinger	44.612
8	David Ragan	44.676
9	Jamie McMurray	44.818
10	Kasey Kahne	44.822
11	Sam Hornish Jr.	44.857
12	Jimmie Johnson	44.866
13	Kyle Busch	44.873
14	Brett Moffitt	44.969
15	Casey Mears	45.021
16	Kyle Larson	45.027
17	Ryan Newman	45.043
18	Michael Annett	45.057
19	Matt Kenseth	45.063
20	Martin Truex Jr.	45.063
21	Justin Allgaier	45.088
22	Ryan Blaney	45.177
23	Landon Cassill	45.135
24	Jeff Gordon	45.199
25	Carl Edwards	45.238

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has won his first pole of the season and will be looking for his second victory of the year. Daytona has been kind to Earnhardt this season. He qualified and finished third for the Daytona 500 earlier this year. 

The inclement weather proved to be beneficial for Earnhardt, as starting in first is not the only advantage he will get by winning the pole as he told Motor Racing Network:

While Earnhardt might be the favorite to win with his starting position, Jeff Gordon might be the sentimental favorite coming into Sunday. The Coke Zero 400 will be the last time in his career that he will be competing at Daytona International Speedway. 

But in his final race at one of stock car racing meccas, Gordon does not seem nostalgic at all as he'll have to deal with restrictor-plate racing. "I would say it's one of my worst chances to win. I can't stand that kind of racing," Gordon told Jared Turner of FoxSports.com

Gordon will be starting 23rd in Sunday's race. The rain not only did not help Gordon, but it did not help Stewart-Haas Racing either:

Kevin Harvick, who is starting in 35th, leads the Sprint Cup Series with 616 points.

Last week's winner at Sonoma, Kyle Busch qualified for 13th, while Jimmie Johnson, who is starting one spot above Busch, is looking for his fourth win of the season. But NASCAR will have to keep an eye on the weather. With the race slotted to start at 7:45 p.m. EDT on Sunday, weather.com shows that evening thunderstorms are in the forecast.