Coverage of Qualifying for the Federated Auto Parts 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway is scheduled for Friday, September 7, 2012 at 5:35pm/et.
TV: ESPN2 - 5:30pm/et
Scheduled qualifying re-air: none

September 2011 Pole Sitter: #00-David Reutimann, 127.383, finished 28th

May 2012 Pole Sitter: #55-Mark Martin, 128.327mph, finished 8th

Track Qualifying Record: Brian Vickers, May 2004, 129.983mph

Worst Starting Spot to Win: Clint Bowyer, May 2008, started 31st

Oldest Pole Winner: Mark Martin, 53 years, 3 months, 19 days, 4/27/2012

Youngest Pole Winner: Brian Vickers, 20 years, 6 months, 21 days, 5/15/2004

Fastest First Practice Speed: #31-Burton, 125.412mph, scheduled to qualify 45th out of 45 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

Earnhardt Jr. wins pole at Richmond: #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Coors Light pole for the Federated Auto Parts 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway with a speed of 127.023mph for his 1st pole of 2012 and 11th career pole. Earnhardt Jr. has never won from the pole in 10 previous tries.
#24-Gordon will start 2nd followed by #78-Smith, #15-Bowyer, #48-Johnson, #55-Martin, #11-Hamlin, #20-Logano, #56-Truex, Jr. and #2-Keselwoski.
The go-or-go homers who made the race (8): #98-McDowell, #30-Stremme, #87-Nemechek, #33-Leicht, #23-Riggs, #19-Bliss, #26-Wise, #91-Sorenson.
The go-or-go homers who failed to qualify for the race (2): #37-Yeley and #0-Green.
See qualifying results & starting lineup below or on the Starting Lineup page (pdf).(9-7-2012)

Qualifying Fast Facts - Richmond:
#88- Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 55th Annual Federated Auto Parts 400 with a lap of 21.256 seconds, 127.023 mph.
This is his 11th pole in 461 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.
This is his first pole and ninth top-10 start in 2012. His last pole came at the 2011 Daytona 500, 60 races ago.
This is his first pole in 27 races at Richmond International Raceway.
#24-Jeff Gordon (second) posted his 11th top-10 start of 2012 and his 30th in 40 races at Richmond International Raceway.
#78-Regan Smith (third) posted his second top-10 start at Richmond International Raceway. It is his seventh in 26 races this season.
(NASCAR Statistics)(9-7-2012)

Pole Progression: (who had the pole first, who got it next and who ended up with it)
#91-Sorenson, 1st out to qualify, 123.779mph, starts 43rd
#14-Stewart, 3rd out, 125.571, starts 28th
#34-Ragan, 6th out, 125.389, starts 27th
#43-Almirola, 9th out, 125.939, starts 18th
#78-Smith, 23rd out, 126.910, starts 3rd
#24-Gordon, 36th out, 126.981, starts 2nd
#88-Earnhardt Jr., 44th out, 127.023, 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
[45 entered for 43 spots]:
have qualified for the race:
#98-Michael McDowell, 125.880
#30-David Stremme, 125.052
#87-Joe Nemechek, 124.879
#33-Stephen Leicht#, 124.723
#23-Scott Riggs, 124.539
#19-Mike Bliss, 124.315
#26-Josh Wise#, 124.161
#91-Reed Sorenson, 123.779
will miss the race:
#37-J.J. Yeley, 123.468
#0-Mark Green, 120.962

Happy Hour practice for the Federated Auto Parts 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway is over, after 45 scheduled minutes, the top five, slowest and notes:
#99-Edwards 122.321
#48-Johnson 122.260
#31-Burton 121.869
#24-Gordon 121.797
#56-Truex Jr. 121.583
slowest: #0-Green 115.021 & #38-Gilliland 118.660
notes: The first practice set qualifying order with slowest going out first and fasftest going out last. Qualifying is scheduled to start at 5:35pm/et and be televised on ESPN2.
See speeds, best top-10 average and laps run on the Richmond Happy Hour practice speeds page (pdf).(9-7-2012)

First Friday practice for the Federated Auto Parts 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway is over, after 110 scheduled minutes, the top five, slowest and notes:
#31-Burton 125.412
#88-Earhardt Jr. 125.313
#15-Bowyer 125.232
#22-Hornish Jr. 125.110
#29-Harvick 125.041
slowest: #0-Green 114.742 & #91-Sorenson 120.643
notes: The order for qualifying will be set by this practice with slowest going out first and fasftest going ou last. Qualifying is scheduled to start at 5:35pm/et and be televised on ESPN2.
See speeds, best top-10 average and laps run on the Richmond practice 1 speeds page (pdf).(9-7-2012)

Go-or-Go Homers practice at Richmond: how fast/slow were the drivers who are not in the top-35 of owners points and must qualify by speed to make the Federated Auto Parts 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway , where they practiced in the first practice:
the eight drivers who would make the race if things stayed the same:
#19-Bliss, 24th fastest overall
#87-Nemechek, 28th
#98-McDowell, 29th
#26-Wise, 30th
#23-Riggs, 31st
#30-Stremme, 32nd
#33-Leicht, 40th
#37-Yeley, 43rd
the two drivers who would miss the race if things stayed the same:
#91-Sorenson, 44th
#0-Green, 45th/last
(9-7-2012)

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.