DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Capturing the pole wasn't good enough to keep Boris Said in the field for tonight's NASCAR Nextel Cup race after rain canceled qualifying Friday at Daytona International Speedway.

Said was on the provisional pole when rain stopped qualifying with 14 of the 53 drivers yet to qualify.

The rainout forced NASCAR to set the starting lineup based on car owner points, past winners, past champions and qualifying attempts this season. That put points leader Jeff Gordon on the pole.

Said doesn't have a win and wasn't high enough in any of the categories to make the field.

"I'm disappointed," he said.

"The biggest loss is that we had a chance to be in the Bud Shootout [eligible to pole winners] again. We put so much work in this car and now we have the most expensive show car ever built."

This is the last race for the current car at a restrictor-plate track.

The Car of Tomorrow will run at Talladega this fall in the season's final restrictor-plate race.

Gordon was 30th fastest in qualifying before the rainout. Denny Hamlin will join him on the front row.

He was among those drivers who didn't get a chance to qualify before the rain.

Said wasn't the only driver to appear set for tonight's race and not to make the race after the rain. Jeremy Mayfield and Michael Waltrip also didn't make it.

The rain helped some. Paul Menard, David Reutimann and Dale Jarrett made it the field.

New look

TNT's broadcast of tonight's race features no breaks for national commercials -- there will be three local commercial breaks per hour. Even so, the number of commercial breaks will be less than a typical Cup race.

To offset that, TNT will create an on-screen video box for sponsor content.

That will include a mix of vignettes running from 60 seconds to two minutes and feature some Cup drivers.

TNT will provide a post-race show on NASCAR.com with additional interviews and analysis.

Looks the same

NASCAR President Mike Helton said the 10 races for next year's Chase should be the same as this year.

"It's still a work in progress, but so far at least we don't see anything different in the Chase part of the season," Helton said Friday of next year's schedule.

"We're not quite through yet, but I don't suspect any changes to come up in that part of the schedule."

The 10 Chase races this season are New Hampshire, Dover, Kansas, Talladega, Charlotte, Martinsville, Atlanta, Texas, Phoenix and Homestead.

Mad scientist

Denny Hamlin said that since he's second in the points, his team will begin experimenting in some races to prepare for the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

Hamlin said that his team won't experiment much at Pocono and Indianapolis because they feel their flat track program is good and will go for wins there -- and the 10 bonus points for the Chase for a victory.

Reminded that experimenting sent Jimmie Johnson's team in slide while leading the points in the past, Hamlin admitted he has a few concerns.

"We talked about that whether we can't get too excited if we run 20th to 30th one week," Hamlin said.

"We can't let it get us down, because we know we can run top 10 but that's not going to win us the championship. We need to go out there and find what it's going to take to win races and that's what we're trying to accomplish right now."

Team meeting

Carl Edwards said Roush Fenway Racing officials discussed how to better deal with pit road miscues after last week's woe.

Edwards' car fell off the jack and his crew was slow to respond.

Edwards, who had one of the best cars, lost a lap during the stop and saw his chances of winning end.

Edwards wouldn't discuss specifics.

He said the team was not changing any members of his crew.

New deal

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and adidas have joined in a multi-year deal. The apparel and shoe company will create a line of Dale JR. footwear, apparel and accessories. A product launch is scheduled for next February.

Pit stops

Goodyear will auction 43 autographed race-used tires from Cup drivers through July 15. Bidding takes place at www.goodyeargarage.com. Proceeds go to the NASCAR Foundation, which provides funds for charities. ... Goody's will sponsor Bobby Labonte's car at Martinsville this fall and the Petty Enterprises No. 43 car will have a retro paint scheme.