Rain delays qualifying again

The revised session got underway as planned, however with 11 cars still to set a time, the heavens opened once more over Daytona Beach and the session was red-flagged.

Prior to the rain coming down, Sterling Marlin has set the fastest time of the session, setting a lap of 48.972s around the 2.5-mile oval. In fact Dodge runners locked out all top three positions with Ward Burton and Casey Atwood setting the second and third fastest times in Florida.

Jeff Gordon leads the Chevrolet charge, the Hendrick Motorsport driver setting the fourth fastest time. The Winston Cup series leader's lap was four tenths of a second slower than Marlin's benchmark.

When and if the remaining 11 cars set their times, the sharp end of the grid could well change with Stacy Compton, Kevin Lepage, Dale Earnhardt Jr and Joe Nemechek, who all set top-10 times in Thursday night's practice, and Mark Martin, Johnny Benson and Kevin Harvick still to post their qualifying laps.

Autosport.com will keep you posted on developments.