Weather cancels Talladega qualifying
For the second week in a row the weather has played havoc with NASCAR's on-track schedule, this time forcing all Saturday activities at Talladega to be cancelled
Severe weather alerts have been issued for the area and officials have decided to cancel Sprint Cup series qualifying for safety reasons and to postpone the Nationwide Series race for Sunday afternoon.
The field for Sunday's 499-mile race, which is set to start at the original scheduled time, will be set, as per NASCAR rules, according to the owners' standings, handing pole position to Jimmie Johnson.
"In the interest of fan safety, all activities scheduled at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday have been postponed due to the significant threat of extended periods of severe weather," said a release from Talladega Superspeedway officials.
"This decision was made based on advice from the National Weather Service and the Talladega County Emergency Management Agency."
The Nationwide Series race will be run following the Cup event, with at least 11 drivers taking part in both and set for 811 miles of racing in one day.
Given the cancellation of qualifying, Terry Cook and Aric Almirola were left out of the Cup field.
Weather forecasts for Sunday look good, with partly skies expected and only a 20 per cent chance of rain.
Starting line-up:
Pos Driver Car
1. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet
2. Matt Kenseth Ford
3. Greg Biffle Ford
4. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet
5. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet
6. Kyle Busch Toyota
7. Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet
8. Jeff Burton Chevrolet
9. Kurt Busch Dodge
10. Mark Martin Chevrolet
11. Denny Hamlin Toyota
12. Joey Logano Toyota
13. Tony Stewart Chevrolet
14. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet
15. Carl Edwards Ford
16. Ryan Newman Chevrolet
17. Martin Truex Jr Toyota
18. Paul Menard Ford
19. Brian Vickers Toyota
20. Scott Speed Toyota
21. Jamie McMurray Chevrolet
22. Kasey Kahne Ford
23. AJ Allmendinger Ford
24. Juan Pablo Montoya Chevrolet
25. Brad Keselowski Dodge
26. David Ragan Ford
27. Elliott Sadler Ford
28. Marcos Ambrose Toyota
29. Sam Hornish Jr Dodge
30. David Reutimann Toyota
31. Regan Smith Chevrolet
32. Bobby Labonte Chevrolet
33. Kevin Conway Ford
34. Travis Kvapil Ford
35. Robert Richardson Jr Ford
36. David Stremme Ford
37. Mike Bliss Chevrolet
38. Robby Gordon Toyota
39. Johnny Sauter Chevrolet
40. Max Papis Toyota
41. Joe Nemechek Toyota
42. Dave Blaney Toyota
43. Michael Waltrip Toyota
Non-qualifiers:
Terry Cook Dodge
Aric Almirola Chevrolet
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