Coverage of Qualifying for the STP 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway is scheduled for Saturday, April 21, 2012 at 12:10pm/et.
TV: SPEED - 12:00pm/et
Scheduled qualifying re-air: none

June 2011 Pole Sitter: #22-Kurt Busch, 174.752mph, finished 9th

October 2011 Pole Sitter: #16-Greg Biffle, 174.887mph, finished 8th

Track Qualifying Record: #17-Matt Kenseth, 10/8/2005, 180.856mph

Oldest Kansas Pole Winner: Mark Martin, 50 years, 8 months, 24 days, 10/2/2009

Youngest Pole Winner: Jason Leffler, 26 years, 0 months, 14 days, 9/30/2001

Fastest First Practice Speed: #18-Busch, 173.728mph, scheduled to qualify 46th out of 46 drivers

NOTE: no longer doing semi-live qualifying on Jayski.com.
NASCAR.com and FoxSports have live realtime qualifying and hits for my qualifying pages were way down in 2011 due to the availabilty of the real-time qualifying found at those sites.
Will continue to post Jayski.com's unique qualifying results below, to help explain how drivers made the race.
For Realtime qualifying, check out:
NASCAR.com and FoxSports

Allmendinger wins pole at Kansas: #22-A.J. Allmendinger won the pole for the STP 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway with a speed of 175.747mph for his 1st pole of 2012 and 2nd career pole. The pole qualifies Allemdinger for the 2013 Shootout at Daytona. #29-Harvick will start 2nd the #20-Logano [but due to an engine change on Friday, he will fall to the rear of the field before the green flag on Sunday], #11-Hamlin, #55-Martin, #56-Truex Jr., #88-Earnhardt Jr., #15-Bowyer, #5-Kahne and #12-Hornish Jr.[top go-or-go homer.
The go-or-go homers who made the race (8): #12-Hornish Jr., #30-Stremme, #49-Yeley, #23-Riggs, #98-McDowell, #26-Wise, #87-Nemechek and #19-Bliss.
The go-or-go homers who failed to qualify for the race (3): #79-Andrews, #33-Jeff Green and #74-Raines.
See qualifying results, order, pole progression, go-or-go homers & starting lineup below or on the Starting Lineup page (pdf). (4-21-2012)

Qualifying Fast Facts - Kansas Speedway:
#22- AJ Allmendinger won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 2nd Annual STP 400 with a lap of 30.683 seconds, 175.993 mph.
This is his second pole in 160 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.
This is his first pole and second top-10 start in 2012.
This is his first pole in six races at Kansas Speedway.
#29-Kevin Harvick (second) posted his fifth top-10 start of 2012 and his second in 13 races at Kansas Speedway.
#20-Joey Logano (third) posted his third top-10 start at Kansas Speedway. It is his sixth in eight races this season.
#26-Josh Wise (38th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
(NASCAR Statistics)(4-21-2012)

Pole Progression: (who had the pole first, who got it next and who ended up with it)
#20-Logano, 1st out to qualify, 175.724mph, starts 3rd [engine change]
#29-Harvick, 32nd out, 175.747, starts 2nd
#22-Allmendinger, 39th out, 175.993, starts 1st

How did the non Top-35 teams do in qualifying?
Fastest 7 get in, 8th [43rd] spot goes to most recent past champ not in the race already or 8th fastest
[46 entered for 43 spots]:
have qualified for the race:
#12-Sam Hornish Jr., 175.086
#30-David Stremme, 174.031
#49-J.J. Yeley, 173.516
#23-Scott Riggs, 173.249
#98-Michael McDowell, 173.155
#26-Josh Wise#, 172.756
#87-Joe Nemechek, 171.625
#19-Mike Bliss, 171.396
will miss the race:
#79-Tim Andrews, 170.989
#33-Jeff Green, 169.769
#74-Tony Raines, 169.444

Happy Hour Practice for the STP 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway is over, after 90 scheduled minutes, the top five fastest, slowest and notes:
#48-Johnson 174.956
#55-Martin 174.317
#56-Truex Jr. 173.801
#16-Biffle 173.310
#11-Hamlin 172.89
slowest: #36-Blaney 166.826 #33-Green 167.390
Notes: #14-Stewart scraped the wall just into practice, soing some minor damage to the right side of the car.
See fastest speeds, best ten-lap averages, laps run and more on the Kansas Happy Hour Practice Speeds (pdf), no average speeds all laps and NOT changing back to the old way, just posting the pdf's.(4-20-2012)

1st Friday Practice for the STP 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway is over, after 80 scheduled minutes, the top five fastest, slowest and notes:
#18-Busch 173.728
#99-Edwards 172.900
#5-Kahne 172.546
#83-Cassill 172.469
#88-Earnhardt Jr. 172.276
slowest: #98-McDowell 167.348 #33-Green 167.593
no speed listed: #20-Logano (engine change)
notes: #20-Logano left the garage just as practice began, was on his first lap, when the engine soured, Logano went back to the garage and the team is changing the engine. So Logano will start the race on Sunday from the rear. About 10 minutes into practice, #51-Busch spun off turn 4 and slid thru the frontstretch grass. Busch was able to drive the car to the garage with just some cosmetic damage. #47-Labonte's team changed the fuel cell as they were having fueling problems.
This practice will set the order for qualifying on Saturday, scheduled for 12:10pm/et on SPEED.
See fastest speeds, best ten-lap averages, laps run and more on the Kansas 1st Practice Speeds (pdf), no average speeds all laps and NOT changing back to the old way, just posting the pdf's.(4-20-2012)

Go-or-Go Homers practice for the STP 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway.
the final practice rank for the go-or-go homers (drivers not in the top 35 of current owners points)
These drivers would make the race if things stay the same:
#87-Joe Nemechek, 17th fastest overall
#23-Scott Riggs, 22nd
#30-David Stremme, 33rd
#26-Josh Wise#, 35th
#19-Mike Bliss, 36th
#49-J.J. Yeley, 37th
#74-Tony Raines, 38th
#12-Sam Hornish Jr., 39th
These drivers would miss the race if things stay the same:
#79-Andrews, 42nd
#33-Green, 44th
#98-Michael McDowell, 45th/last
(4-20-2012)

Race info at: Race Info Page

Event Entry List

Past Champions Provisional page

All Time Sprint Cup Pole Winners

How to Calculate Track Speeds: use the formula Speed = Distance divided by Time. Distance is Track Length, and Lap Time into Hours. Once hour is 3600 seconds, so the calculation for a 48 second lap at Daytona(2.5 miles) would be: Speed = 2.5 x (3600/48), = 2.5 x 75 = 187.500mph. For a 19 second lap at Bristol(.533 miles): Speed = .533 x (3600/19), = .533 x 189.474 = a speed of 100.990mph

2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup qualifying procedures:
1) qualifying order will be determined by the driver's fastest lap in first practice.
2) times on the speed sheet will be inverted with the slowest cars attempting their qualifying runs first
3) go-or-go-home cars will now qualify among the 35 teams locked in on owner points and not be separated by the field. 4) the NASCAR Sprint Cup director does reserve the right to change a driver's qualifying order or allow "adjustments or repairs" to cars after the car has taken the green flag at the start/finish line.
5) all cars must qualify with a full fuel cell.
6) qualifying consists of two consecutive timed laps (except at road courses, 1 lap)
7) the fastest lap determines qualifying position
8) in case of a rain-out of practice, a random drawing will be held for cars set up in the garage area to determine qualifying order
9) if qualifying is rained out, the order of the field will be set according to Section 9-5 of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup rule book.

If first practice is run, but qualifying is unable to take place, the starting lineup will be based on speeds from the car's fastest lap from the first practice, with top-35 cars in owner points no longer segregated from the non-top 35 cars. Previously, the top 35 cars lined up in front of all other eligible car owners.(NASCAR)(7-7-2011)

Past Champions Provisional Berths in Sprint Cup: A past champion's provisional may be used by an eligible driver a maximum of six times over the course of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. A team with a past champion eligible driver may only use this provisional a maximum of six times during a season. The provisional gives the eligible driver the 43rd and final starting position in the race field. This is only for a team/driver OUTSIDE the top-35 in owners points, drivers whose team is in the top-35 in owners points, would already be guaranteed in the field and not need the Past Champions Provisional
See my Past Champions Provisional Page for more.

What happens if all qualifying gets cancelled [rain/weather/other]?
If bad weather cancels qualifying, the final starting lineup will be determined by practice speeds. The same rule book procedures will be used to determine eligibility to start a race. If weather cancels practice sessions, then the starting lineup will be set by points, per the rule book.

If qualifying is canceled, then:
If it is during the first 5 races of the season, the previous season OWNERS points are used:
#1) - Previous season Owner Points [position 1-35][team does not have to attempt all the races]
#2) - Race winners from the previous and current season not already in the field
#3) - Past Sprint Cup Champions not in by 1 or 2
#4) - Current season Owner Position [Top 35][not in by rules 1-3]
#5) - Current season race attempts ties broken by current owners position [not in by rules 1-4]
#6) - For 2nd race of season, teams that missed Daytona 500, are seeded in owners points by thier finish in the Duels
#7) - Randon Draw if more then one team with no attempts

If qualifying is canceled by at least one practice gets run, then:
If it is the first 5 races of the season, the previous season OWNERS points are used:
#1) - Previous season Owner Points [position 1-35][team does not have to attempt all the races]
#2) - Race winners from the previous and current season not already in the field
#3) - Past Sprint Cup Champions not in by 1 or 2
#4) - Current season Owner Position [Top 35][not in by rules 1-3]
#5) - Current season race attempts ties broken by current owners position [not in by rules 1-4]
#6) - For 2nd race of season, teams that missed Daytona 500, are seeded in owners points by thier finish in the Duels
#7) - Randon Draw if more then one team with no attempts
#8) - One it is determined which teams/driver made the race, then the field is set by 1st practice speeds.

What happens if just qualifying is cancelled?
If it is during the first 5 races of the season, the previous season OWNERS points are used:
#1) - Previous season Owner Points [position 1-35][team does not have to attempt all the races]
#2) - Race winners from the previous and current season not already in the field
#3) - Past Sprint Cup Champions not in by 1 or 2
#4) - Current season Owner Position [Top 35][not in by rules 1-3]
#5) - Current season race attempts ties broken by current owners position [not in by rules 1-4]
#6) - For 2nd race of season, teams that missed Daytona 500, are seeded in owners points by thier finish in the Duels
#7) - Randon Draw if more then one team with no attempts
#8) - One it is determined which teams/driver made the race, then the field is set by 1st practice speeds.

What happens if just qualifying is cancelled?
AFTER the 5th race of the season, the current season OWNERS points are used:
#1) - First 35 by current Owner Points [team does not have to attempt all the races]
#2) - Last Years Sprint Cup Champ or the Event Champion if not already in the field
#3) - Car Owners whose team has won in the previous and current season not already in the field
#4) - Drivers who have won in the previous and current season not already in the field
#5) - Past Sprint Cup Champions not in by 1 thru 4
#6) - Qualifying Attempts with current Owners points as the tie breaker
#7) - NASCAR will hold a draw for teams with no owners points / attempts
#8) - One it is determined which teams/driver made the race, then the field is set by 1st practice speeds.

NOTE: all above apply as long as the team was entered by the entry deadline - usually 7-13 days before the race

2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup qualifying procedures:
1) qualifying order will be determined by the driver's fastest lap in first practice.
2) times on the speed sheet will be inverted with the slowest cars attempting their qualifying runs first
3) go-or-go-home cars will now qualify among the 35 teams locked in on owner points and not be separated by the field. 4) the NASCAR Sprint Cup director does reserve the right to change a driver's qualifying order or allow "adjustments or repairs" to cars after the car has taken the green flag at the start/finish line.
5) all cars must qualify with a full fuel cell.
6) qualifying consists of two consecutive timed laps (except at road courses, 1 lap)
7) the fastest lap determines qualifying position
8) in case of a rain-out of practice, a random drawing will be held for cars set up in the garage area to determine qualifying order
9) if qualifying is rained out, the order of the field will be set according to Section 9-5 of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup rule book.