Friday's persistent rains at the Homestead-Miami Speedway played havoc with the day's schedule. Ultimately, both Sprint Cup practices and Camping World Truck Series qualifying were washed out, and the truck race was shortened by rain as Austin Dillon became that circuit's youngest-ever series champion.
The rain sets up a busy Saturday for the Cup teams, with all eyes of course on the No. 99 Roush-Fenway Racing Ford team of Carl Edwards and the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet team of Tony Stewart. There will be a pair of practice sessions - both televised by SPEED - at 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., respectively
Edwards, Stewart, and the rest of the 48 teams hoping to make the field will take their shot at the clock beginning at 2:40 p.m. SPEED's coverage of qualifying begins at 2:30. Kasey Kahne is the defending polesitter, and a repeat performance could help him greatly in his bid to close out his one-year tenure with Team Red Bull with a pair of victories.
After the Sprint Cup teams have qualified, the NASCAR Nationwide Series teams will run their last race of the 2011 season. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Edwards' Roush-Fenway Racing teammate in that series and a former protege of Stewart's in the USAC midget division, will clinch his first championship in just his second season with a 37th-place finish or better. The Ford 300 will be seen at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN2, preceded by NASCAR Countdown at 4.