Qualifying: Points make prizes

The cancellation scrubbed the efforts of Thursday night, and officials made the grid on points and procedures. That puts leader Tony Stewart on the pole for Sunday's race, with Mark Martin outside.

In this drought-parched region, it seems silly to talk about too much rain. Perhaps the answer to drought is to bring a NASCAR race to town. Since end of August, three of six races (Darlington, Talladega, Charlotte) have been gridded by points because of weather.

Stewart will start on pole for the third time this year, the prior two being at Sears Point and Indianapolis. Jerry Nadeau, leader at the time of the rain Thursday night, ended up 39th in the rulebook order.

Rain appeared likely to continue through the day and into Saturday, threatening Busch Series qualifying mid-day and the ARCA preliminary, which was rescheduled from Thursday night to Friday afternoon.

Tony Stewart, No. 20 Home Depot Pontiac
Mark Martin, No. 6 Pfizer Ford
Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet
Ryan Newman, No. 12 ALLTEL Ford
Jamie McMurray, No. 40 Coors Light Dodge
Rusty Wallace, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford
Matt Kenseth, No. 17 DeWalt Tools Ford
Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet
Bill Elliott, No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge
Ricky Rudd, No. 28 Havoline Ford