Coverage of Qualifying for the Bojangles' Southern 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway is scheduled for Friday, May 11, 2012 at 5:10pm/et.
TV: SPEED - 5:00pm/et
Scheduled qualifying re-air: 9:30pm/et

2011 Pole Sitter: #4-Kasey Kahne, 181.254mph, finished 4th

Track Qualifying Record: Kasey Kahne, May 2011, 181.254mph

Fastest First Practice Speed: #22-Allmendinger, 175.022mph, scheduled to qualify 38th out of 47 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

Biffle wins pole at Darlington: #16-Greg Biffle won the pole for the Bojangles' Southern 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway with a speed of 180.257mph for his 2nd pole of 2012 and 11th career pole. #48-Johnson was 2nd fastest followed by #5-Kahne, #39-Newman, #18-Busch, #56-Truex, Jr., #99-Edwards, #11-Hamlin, #78-Smith, and #31-Burton.
The go-or-go homers who made the race (8): #79-Speed, #30-Stremme, #73-Kvapil, #26-Wise, #52-Skinner, #74-Whitt, #87-Nemechek, #49-Yeley.
The go-or-go homers who failed to qualify for the race (4):#23-Riggs, #98-McDowell, #33-Leicht, #19-Bliss.
See qualifying results & starting lineup below or on the Starting Lineup page (pdf). (5-11-2012)

Qualifying Fast Facts - Darlington Raceway:
Greg Biffle won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 63rd Annual Bojangles' Southern 500 with a lap of 27.281 seconds, 180.257 mph.
This is his 11th pole in 341 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.
This is his second pole and eighth top-10 start in 2012.
This is his second pole in 12 races at Darlington Raceway. His first pole at the track came in May 2008. Biffle led 95 laps in that race, but finished 43rd after engine trouble.
Biffle started in the top 10 in both of his Darlington wins, third in 2005 and ninth in 2009.
Jimmie Johnson (second) posted his sixth top-10 start of 2012 and his seventh in 14 races at Darlington Raceway.
Kasey Kahne (third) posted his eighth top-10 start at Darlington Raceway. It is his 10th in 11 races this season.
Josh Wise (30th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.(NASCAR Statistics)(5-11-2012)

Pole Progression: (who had the pole first, who got it next and who ended up with it)
#10-Patrick, 1st out to qualify, 175.497mph, starts 38th
#52-Skinner, 2nd out to qualify, 175.899mph, starts 35th
#79-Speed, 7th out to qualify, 176.879mph, starts 29th
#1-McMurray, 20th out to qualify, 179.089mph, starts 11th
#18-Busch, 22nd out to qualify, 179.448mph, starts 5th
#5-Kahne, 26th out to qualify, 179.566mph, starts 3rd
#48-Johnson, 41st out to qualify, 179.566mph, starts 2nd
#16-Biffle, 46th out to qualify, 180.257mph, 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:
#79-Scott Speed, 176.879
#26-Josh Wise#, 176.746
#30-David Stremme, 176.606
#73-Travis Kvapil, 176.594
#52-Mike Skinner, 175.899
#74-Cole Whitt, 175.497
#87-Joe Nemechek, 175.022
#49-J.J. Yeley, 174.848
will miss the race:
#23-Scott Riggs, 174.823
#98-Michael McDowell, 174.730
#33-Stephen Leicht, 174.662
#19-Mike Bliss, 174.649

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.