NASCAR at Texas 2018 Qualifying Results: Kurt Busch Takes Pole Position

Even though Mother Nature put a damper on Friday's qualifying, Kurt Busch won the pole for Sunday's race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Busch will start up front with Kevin Harvick. Clint Bowyer, Ryan Blaney and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top five.

Below is a recap of the weather-shortened qualifying action as drivers prepare for the rest of the weekend.

NASCAR at Texas 2018 Race Order

1. Kurt Busch (27.360)

2. Kevin Harvick (27.395)

3. Clint Bowyer (27.435)

4. Ryan Blaney (27.467)

5. Denny Hamlin (27.515)

6. Martin Truex Jr. (27.554)

7. Joey Logano (27.562)

8. Kyle Busch (27.583)

9. Jimmie Johnson (27.607)

10. Kyle Larson (27.688)

Full race order can be seen on NASCAR's official website.

Recap

Although lightning prevented a full run of qualifying, one round was enough to set the starting lineup.

Kurt Busch, who owns the track record for fastest lap, topped out at a speed of 197.368 mph for a time of 27.360: 

The No. 41 car apparently feels right at home at Texas Motor Speedway:

Busch wasn't the only one on the Stewart-Haas Racing team to have a good day, however:

That'll do.

Sitting 10th place in the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings, starting first puts Kurt Busch in position to try to work his way up the leaderboard. He currently stands 80 points back of Kyle Busch for the top spot.

As for the No. 18 car, Kyle Busch will try to defend his points lead while starting in eighth. 

Defending Texas Motor Speedway champ Jimmie Johnson finds himself near the front of the pack, starting in the ninth spot. Past success and a top-10 start bode well for a driver who is 17th overall in the standings.

Unfortunately for drivers not named Kurt Busch, lightning came through and halted things:

The good news for racing fans, though, is that the forecast—per the Weather Channel—is clear for the rest of the weekend.