Rain ruined qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at the Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday. NASCAR rules state that when qualifying is rained out, the starting order will be determined by first practice speeds. This gives Roush-Fenway Racing’s Carl Edwards the pole award for the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega.
Edwards’ pole award doesn’t count towards an entry into the 2014 Sprint Unlimited nor does it count as a Coors Light Pole Award. This will be the second time this season that Edwards will be leading the field to the green flag without getting credit for the pole. Edwards had a speed of 199.675 mph during the first practice session of Friday which barely edged out Martin Truex Jr. for the fastest in the field. Truex Jr. will start on the outside pole for Sunday’s event. Edwards joked in the media center on Saturday about how he should’ve been awarded the pole when Matt Kenseth went to the back at Kansas a few weeks ago.
The lone car missing the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega is veteran driver, Elliott Sadler. Sadler was set to run his second race with Joe Gibbs Racing and had a car fast enough to qualify on time, but unfortunately because he only has one previous attempt this season, he missed the race. This could mean that he could get another shot at another race considering he didn’t really have the opportunity to do much but practice this weekend.
Denny Hamlin’s return to the track has been decent so far. He will start seventh at Talladega on Sunday, but will step out of the car in place for Brian Vickers after the first caution. Hamlin will, however, drop to the back of the pack immediately just to stay safe.
Other notables in qualifying include last weekend’s winner, Kevin Harvick, who will start mid-pack in the 24th spot surrounded by Stewart-Haas Racing drivers, Tony Stewart and Danica Patrick. Michael Waltrip will start in the 14th position, but will drop to the back of the pack to protect Hamlin for the first 100 laps no matter what Hamlin does.
Now that the cars have been impounded, teams can’t touch their cars until the scheduled start of the race on Sunday afternoon at approximately 1:19 p.m. or so.
Joseph Wolkin can be followed on Twitter at @JosephNASCAR.
