Coverage of Qualifying for the Aaron's 499 Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway is scheduled for Saturday, May 5, 2012 at 12:10pm/et.
TV: SPEED - 12:00pm/et
Scheduled qualifying re-air: none

October 2011 Pole Sitter: #5-Mark Martin, 181.367mph, finished 20th

April 2011 Pole Sitter: #24-Jeff Gordon, 178.248mph, finished 3rd

Track/Event Qualifying Record (no restrictor plate): Bill Elliott, April 1987, 212.809mph

Track/Event Qualifying Record (Restrictor Plate): Bill Elliott, May 1990, 199.388 (15/16th inch plate)

Oldest Pole Winner: Ricky Rudd, 47 years, 7 months, 13 days, 4/25/2004

Youngest Pole Winner: Jimmie Johnson, 26 years, 7 months, 4 days, 4/21/2002

Fastest First Practice Speed: #43-Almirola, 196.7257mph, scheduled to qualify 44th out of 44 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

Gordon wins pole at Talladega: #24-Jeff Gordon won the pole for the Aaron's 499 Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway with a speed of 191.623mph for his 1st pole of 2012, 3rd at Talladega and 71st of his career. #22-Allmendinger was 2nd fastest followed by #9-Ambrose, #43-Almirola, #5-Kahne, #16-Biffle, #99-Edwards, #14-Stewart, #55-Waltrip, and #17-Kenseth
The go-or-go homers who made the race (8): #21-Bayne, #26-Wise, #30-Stremme, #98-McDowell, #97-Elliott, #87-Nemechek, #23-Richardson, #33-Raines.
The go-or-go homer who failed to qualify for the race (1): #49-Yeley.
See qualifying results & starting lineup below or on the Starting Lineup page (pdf). (5-5-2012)

Qualifying Fast Facts - Talladega Superspeedway:
Jeff Gordon won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 43rd Annual Aaron's 499 with a lap of 49.973 seconds, 191.623 mph.
This is his 71st pole in 663 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. Gordon ranks third on the all-time series poles list.
Gordon has now won at least one pole in 20 consecutive seasons, tying David Pearson for the longest streak all-time. His first pole came in 1993 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
This is his first pole and fourth top-10 start in 2012.
This is his third pole in 39 races at Talladega Superspeedway.
AJ Allmendinger (second) posted his fourth top-10 start of 2012 and his second in eight races at Talladega Superspeedway.
Marcos Ambrose (third) posted his first top-10 start at Talladega Superspeedway. It is his third in ten races this season. (NASCAR Statistics)(5-5-2012)

Pole Progression: (who had the pole first, who got it next and who ended up with it)
#33-Raines, 1st out to qualify, 186.528mph, starts 43rd
#36-Blaney, 3rd out to qualify, 187.625mph, starts 38th
#98-McDowell, 4th out to qualify, 188.630mph, starts 35th
#10-Reutimann, 9th out to qualify, 188.902mph, starts 34th
#30-Stremme, 12th out to qualify, 189.331mph, starts 27th
#26-Wise, 13th out to qualify, 189.959mph, starts 16th
#21-Bayne, 16th out to qualify, 190.170mph, starts 11th
#22-Allmendinger, 19th out to qualify, 191.111mph, starts 2nd
#24-Gordon, 41st out to qualify, 191.623mph, 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
[44 entered for 43 spots]:
have qualified for the race:
#21-Trevor Bayne, 190.170
#26-Josh Wise#, 189.959
#30-David Stremme, 189.331
#98-Michael McDowell, 188.630
#97-Bill Elliott, 188.171
#87-Joe Nemechek, 188.012
#23-Robert Richardson Jr., 186.710
#33-Tony Raines, 186.528
will miss the race:
#49-J.J. Yeley, 186.528

Race info at: Race Info Page

Event Entry List

Past Champions Provisional page

All Time Sprint Cup Pole Winners

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 AND all practices are cancled, 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 cancled 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.