RUNNING ORDER FOR BRISTOL NIGHT RACE

RELATED: Recap the action so far | Revised race-day schedule

With 48 of 500 laps complete at Bristol, here is a look at the running order heading into Sunday's resumption of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at the 0.533-mile track.

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

Biggest mover: Larson, +13
Biggest dropper: Johnson, -13

JUSTIN ALLGAIER TO FILL IN FOR AILING ANNETT

Justin Allgaier will make his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start of 2016 Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway. Allgaier will pilot the No. 46 HScott Motorsports Chevrolet in place of Michael Annett, who is experiencing flu-like symptoms, the team announced on Twitter.

Due to flu-like symptoms, Michael Annett won't compete in tonight's event. Justin Allgaier will drive the No. 46 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet.
— HScott Motorsports (@Team_HSM) August 20, 2016

Allgaier drove the No. 51 for HScott Motorsports in 2014 and 2015. He currently drives in the NASCAR XFINITY Series for JR Motorsports.

Allgaier finished second in Friday night's XFINITY Series race, and he's currently third in the series points standings.

In 22 Sprint Cup Series starts this year, Annett's best finish is 20th at Daytona International Speedway in July.

READY FOR POINTS 'BATTLE' TO RICHMOND, BUESCHER STEPPING UP AGGRESSION

BRISTOL, Tenn. -- NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Chris Buescher has a victory but remains outside the top 30 in points, a situation that the Front Row Motorsports rookie driver hopes to remedy in the coming weeks as he seeks a berth in this year's Chase for the NASCAR  Sprint Cup.

For the third consecutive season, NASCAR's Chase field will consist of drivers in the top 30 in points who have one or more wins, with any remaining positons in the 16-team field determined via points.

Buescher earned his first career Sprint Cup victory at Pocono Raceway, and trails 30th place David Ragan (BK Racing) by only three points heading into Saturday night's Bass Pro Shops NRA 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway (8 p.m. NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR). But it's not just Ragan and the seemingly slim deficit that Buescher said he and his Front Row Motorsports team have their sights set on.

"I think anyone will tell you that it's not necessarily just three points," said Buescher. "It's going to be constantly changing. There are four drivers in this window that can basically upset the balance or change it each and every weekend.

"For us right now, yeah, it's three points to David Ragan, but after Bristol it could be a completely different story. We could gain points on David, but get passed by the one behind us. It's a balance, but we've got to take it week by week.  … We have to capitalize on our weekends as much as possible. That's what is going to be important for us -- to do the best we can and let everything else fall the way it's going to."

Regan Smith trails Buescher by 14 points; Brian Scott sits 11 behind Smith.

Ten drivers have clinched one of the 16 Chase berths based on wins and their current points positions, including defending series champion Kyle Busch and 2012 champ Brad Keselowski. Tony Stewart has a victory, but has yet to officially clinch a spot since the three-time series champ sits 26th in points and could fall out of the top 30.

Eleventh through 16th in points but winless this season are Ryan Newman, Chase Elliott, Austin Dillon, Jamie McMurray, Kyle Larson and Trevor Bayne.

Should Stewart remain in the top 30 and Buescher advance, only four positons would be set based on points.

Just outside the top 16 are Kasey Kahne and Ryan Blaney.

"Right now, we've got to get all we can get and be aggressive with it to gain points and that's more fun racing," Buescher, one of four drivers competing for Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors, said. "We can enjoy these weekends and not be too worried about giving it up, just knowing that we've got to do everything we can do to run as well as possible.

"That's not necessarily saying we've got to try and get ourselves in a fuel window and run out of gas and lose a bunch of spots. It's saying we've got to be aggressive on track, take passes whenever we can get them, and make sure that we can drive forward so that we're earning points versus losing them each of these next four weekends."

Buescher finished 21st at Bristol in the spring race, and said it's "probably one of our better race tracks this year for speed … and this should be a place where we can gain a lot of those points."

But, he added, "the guys that we're racing also run really well here, so it's going be a battle right up to the end of Richmond."

CARL EDWARDS NABS COORS LIGHT POLE AWARD AT BRISTOL

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Denny Hamlin owns a new track record, but Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Carl Edwards won the round that counted in Friday’s knockout qualifying session at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Edwards sped around the .533-mile high-banked concrete short track in 14.602 seconds (131.407 mph) to claim the top starting spot for Saturday's Bass Pro Shops NRA night Race (8 p.m. ET on NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), edging Hamlin (131.200 mph) by .023 seconds.

Remarkably, Edwards earned his fifth Coors Light Pole Award of the season, his fourth at Bristol and the 21st of his career without making a mock qualifying run during either of Friday's two practice sessions. Instead, the driver of the No. 19 Toyota relied on setup information from his teammates – including Hamlin.

"It's nice to have fast teammates," said Edwards, who will try to duplicate his pole-winning, race-winning performance from April. "We wouldn't have had a shot at (the pole) if it wasn’t for them. We thought it was going to rain, so we didn't practice qualifying or anything. My guys made great adjustments based on that information.

"I just hope we can finish it off the way we did in the spring."

All four JGR drivers qualified in the top five for the 23rd NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race of the season. Kyle Busch (130.931 mph) will start third and Matt Kenseth (130.619 mph) fifth. The only interloper was Ford driver Ryan Blaney (130.637 mph), who grabbed the fourth spot on the grid in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Fusion.

With a blistering run in 14.573 seconds (131.668 mph) in the first round, Hamlin broke the track record he set for this event last year, eclipsing his own mark of 14.602 seconds (131.407 mph). But Hamlin was the last of 12 drivers out for the final round and fell just short of Edwards' winning time.

"We had really good speed, so I'm pretty optimistic about that," said Hamlin, who will start within the top six for the 15th time this season. "I can't believe we've qualified as good as we have this year and not gotten a pole.

"It's unbelievable – still a great effort by our whole team. I hope we can have a great race up here on (Saturday) night and get in Victory Lane."

Chris Buescher, fighting to crack the top 30 in the standings and qualify for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup (based on his victory at Pocono), qualified 12th, one position behind Jeff Gordon, who made the final round for the first time in his fourth start in place of Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Gordon's Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott had the fastest Chevrolet, qualifying sixth.

NASCAR’s Friday schedule at Bristol Motor Speedway

The Xfinity and Sprint Cup Series get down to business today at Bristol Motor Speedway.

The Xfinity Series qualifies and competes in the Food City 300, and Sprint Cup team practice and qualify for the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race.

Here’s the full Friday schedule for the series, including TV and radio times.

All times are Eastern.

7 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. – Sprint Cup garage open

10 a.m. – Xfinity garage opens

10 – 11:25 a.m. – Sprint Cup practice (NBC Sports App)

12:30 – 1:55 p.m. – Sprint Cup practice (NBC Sports App with USA Network coverage beginning at 1 p.m.)

3:15 p.m. – Xfinity qualifying; three rounds-multi-car (NBC Sports App)

5 p.m. – Xfinity driver-crew chief meeting

5:45 p.m. – Sprint Cup qualifying; three rounds-multi car (USA Network, Performance Radio Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

7 p.m.- Xfinity driver introductions

7:30 p.m. – Food City 300; 300 laps/159.9 miles (USA Network, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Dale Earnhardt Jr. gives peek at recovery process from concussion

It’s been 68 days since Dale Earnhardt Jr. made contact with Chris Buescher on Lap 63 of the Sprint Cup race at Michigan International Speedway while exiting Turn 2 and pancaked the outside wall, a relatively harmless looking accident.

Since, Earnhardt competed in three more races before sitting out four due to a concussion Earnhardt and his doctors believe stemmed from the June 12 race at Michigan.

While Jeff Gordon will make his fourth start in substitution for Earnhardt this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, no timetable has been given on when the 13-time most popular NASCAR driver will return to the track. In his Sprint Cup career, Earnhardt has missed six total races due to concussions.

In the meantime, Earnhardt has been transparent about how he is dealing with the concussion, from speaking on his Dale Jr. Download podcast, to holding a press conference at Watkins Glen International.

Now, Earnhardt has given the curious an inside look at his rehab process through social media. On Thursday, Earnhardt posted multiple pictures and videos to Instagram detailing some of the activities and tests he is undergoing regularly in order to help him prepare for his return to racing.

The activities range from doing basketball drills, to eye chart exercises and walking through a dark room lit by only disco ball-like lighting.

In each post, Earnhardt gives a brief explanation about the related exercise.

Daniel Suarez tops first Xfinity practice at Bristol Motor Speedway

The first of two scheduled Xfinity Series practices at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Food City 300 was topped by Daniel Suarez, who finished the session with a best speed of 126.046 mph.

The session was cut short by about three minutes due to the threat of severe weather.

The top five was made up of Regan Smith (125.782), Austin Dillon (125.330), Brad Keselowski (125.020) and Kyle Busch (124.587).

Busch had the best 10-lap average speed at 124.005 mph.

Brenna Poole recorded the most laps in the session with 37.

Speed Chart