It wasn't quite Trevor Bayne winning the Daytona 500 or Paul Menard winning the Brickyard 400, but seeing Casey Mears on the pole for Saturday night's Cup race at Bristol is pretty darn shocking. After all, he has made just one start from the top 10 all season and his average starting position is a dismal 27.6 in 2012. That being said, a fast lap in the opening practice followed by a little help from Mother Nature will allow Mears to lead the field to the green thanks to NASCAR's rain out procedure that sets the field by first practice speeds. Granted, his chances of winning the race are basically nonexistent, but with a good pit stall and great track position, Mears could make a nice sleeper pick.

Of course, the favorite for Saturday's race has to be Brad Keselowski. After all, he is starting second, he is the defending winner of the race, and he is going for a season sweep at Bristol after winning at the track in March. Yes, neither of those wins came on the track's current configuration, but considering he has been the hottest driver in the series the last two months and was fast in practice, it is tough to bet against a Bristol three-peat for Keselowski.

Other big names starting near the front that deserve special attention are Greg Biffle and Kyle Busch. In 19 starts at Bristol, Biffle doesn't have a win, but he does have 15 top-15s and six top-five finishes. Fresh off a win last weekend at Michigan, the point leader will roll off third Saturday as he tries to win his first race in Thunder Valley. Meanwhile, Busch is in desperation mode as he tries to win another race to bolster his chances of winning a wild card spot, and he couldn't come to a better track. Busch is a five-time Bristol winner, and he has won four of the last seven races at the track.

Two drivers that were burned by the rain were Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards. Although both are former winners at Bristol, neither was happy with their car during practice. As a result of failing to turn a fast lap, Edwards will have to start 26th Saturday night, and Johnson will start 37th. Both drivers will be facing an uphill battle to say the least, and their fantasy value is definitely shaky.

Based on what we saw in the Truck Series event when Timothy Peters led every lap on his way to the win, the reconfigured Bristol isn't really the one-lane track of old. The outside line is no longer usable, but there is a middle groove that still allows for side-by-side racing, and passing on the bottom is still next to impossible. As a result, track position is going to be crucial, and Mears, Keselowski and the rest of the drivers starting up front are going to start the race with a leg up on the competition. It also means that it could be a very long night for Johnson, Edwards and other drivers toward the back of the pack.

Rk	Driver	Car No.	Make	Plinker	Team	Starting Pos
1	Brad Keselowski	2	Dodge	Miller Lite	Penske Championship Racing	2
2	Matt Kenseth	17	Ford	Best Buy	Roush Fenway Racing	17
3	Kyle Busch	18	Toyota	M&M's	Joe Gibbs Racing	10
4	Kasey Kahne	5	Chevrolet	Farmers Insurance	Hendrick Motorsports	12
5	Greg Biffle	16	Ford	3M	Roush Fenway Racing	3
6	Denny Hamlin	11	Toyota	FedEx	Joe Gibbs Racing	8
7	Clint Bowyer	15	Toyota	5 Hour Energy	Michael Waltrip Racing	23
8	Martin Truex Jr.	56	Toyota	NAPA Auto Parts	Michael Waltrip Racing	15
9	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	88	Chevrolet	Mountain Dew AMP Energy	Hendrick Motorsports	16
10	Kevin Harvick	29	Chevrolet	Budweiser	Richard Childress Racing	13
11	Ryan Newman	39	Chevrolet	U.S. Army	Stewart-Haas Racing	19
12	Jeff Gordon	24	Chevrolet	Drive to End Hunger	Hendrick Motorsports	11
13	Carl Edwards	99	Ford	Subway	Roush Fenway Racing	27
14	Tony Stewart	14	Chevrolet	Office Depot	Stewart-Haas Racing	21
15	Jimmie Johnson	48	Chevrolet	Lowe's Home Improvement	Hendrick Motorsports	37
16	Brian Vickers	55	Toyota	Aaron's Dream Machine	Michael Waltrip Racing	22
17	Jeff Burton	31	Chevrolet	Caterpillar	Richard Childress Racing	6
18	Marcos Ambrose	9	Ford	Stanley Black & Decker	Richard Petty Motorsports	9
19	Paul Menard	27	Chevrolet	Menard's	Richard Childress Racing	7
20	Joey Logano	20	Toyota	Home Depot	Joe Gibbs Racing	4
21	Kurt Busch	51	Chevrolet	Tag Heuer	Phoenix Racing	20
22	Aric Almirola	43	Ford	Medallion Financial	Richard Petty Motorsports	5
23	Regan Smith	78	Chevrolet	Furniture Row	Furniture Row Racing	14
24	Jamie McMurray	1	Chevrolet	Bass Pro Shops	Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing	26
25	Juan Pablo Montoya	42	Chevrolet	Clorox	Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing	28
26	Sam Hornish Jr.	22	Dodge	Shell/Pennzoil	Penske Championship Racing	29
27	David Gilliland	38	Ford	MHP	Front Row Motorsports	18
28	David Ragan	34	Ford	8-Hour Alert	Front Row Motorsports	24
29	Bobby Labonte	47	Toyota	Kingsford	JTG Daugherty Racing	36
30	Travis Kvapil	93	Toyota	Burger King	BK Racing	41
31	Landon Cassill	83	Toyota	Burger King	BK Racing	33
32	Casey Mears	13	Ford	GEICO	Germain Racing	1
33	David Stremme	30	Toyota	Inception Motorsports	Inception Motorsports	31
34	Dave Blaney	36	Chevrolet	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Tommy Baldwin Racing	25
35	Mike Bliss	19	Toyota	Plinker Tactical	Humphrey Smith Racing	34
36	Ken Schrader	32	Ford	C&J Energy	FAS Lane Racing	42
37	Danica Patrick	10	Chevrolet	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Tommy Baldwin Racing	43
38	Michael McDowell	98	Ford	TRAQM.com	Phil Parsons Racing	30
39	Stephen Leicht	33	Chevrolet	LittleJoesAutos.com	Richard Childress Racing	37
40	Scott Riggs	23	Chevrolet	North Texas Pipe	R3 Motorsports	35
41	Josh Wise	26	Ford	MDS Transport	Front Row Motorsports	32
42	Jason Leffler	19	Toyota	Plinker Tactical	Humphrey Smith Racing	39
43	Joe Nemechek	87	Toyota	AM FM Energy	NEMCO Motorsports	40