Coverage of Qualifying for the Sylvania 300 Sprint Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway is scheduled for Friday, September 21, 2012 at 3:40pm/et.
Radio: live online at goprn.com.
TV: SPEED - same day delay at 10:00pm/et
Scheduled qualifying re-air: none

July 2012 Pole Sitter: #18-Kyle Busch, 133.417mph, finished 16th

September 2011 Pole Sitter: #39-Ryan Newman, 135.002mph, finished 25th

Track Qualifying Record: Ryan Newman, 135.232mph, 7/17/2011

Oldest Pole Winner: Bill Elliott, 46 years, 9 months, 13 days, 7/21/2002

Youngest Pole Winner: Brian Vickers, 21 years, 8 months, 23 days, 7/17/2005

Worst Starting Spot to Win: Jeff Burton, started 38th [provisional], 7/1999

Fastest First Practice Speed: #11-Hamlin, 134.820mph, scheduled to qualify 47th 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

Gordon wins pole at New Hampshire: #24-Jeff Gordon won the pole for the Sylvania 300 Sprint Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with a speed of 134.911mph for his 2nd pole of 2012 and 72nd career pole (3rd best all time).
#18-Busch will start 2nd followed by #14-Stewart, #55-Vickers, #99-Edwards, #5-Kahne, #27-Menard, #39-Newman, #56-Truex, Jr. and #22-Blaney (Hornish Jr. will race the #22 car, so will fall to the rear of the field before the start on Sunday).
The go-or-go homers who made the race (8): #95-Speed, #98-McDowell, #91-Sorenson, #87-Nemechek, #79-Bires, #33-Leicht, #37-Yeley and #30-Stremme.
The go-or-go homers who failed to qualify for the race (4): #23-Riggs, #49-Leffler,#19-Green and #26-Wise (who qualified to make the race but the time was disallowed when the car failed post qualifying inspection as rear shocks exceeded limits).
See qualifying results & starting lineup below or on the Starting Lineup page (pdf).(9-21-2012)

Qualifying Fast Facts - New Hampshire:
#24-Jeff Gordon won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 16th Annual Sylvania 300 with a lap of 28.232 seconds, 134.911 mph.
This is his 72nd pole in 681 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.
This is his second pole and 12th top-10 start in 2012.
This is his fourth pole in 36 races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
#18-Kyle Busch (second) posted his 15th top-10 start of 2012 and his ninth in 16 races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
#14-Tony Stewart (third) posted his 18th top-10 start at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. It is his 10th in 28 races this season.
#33-Stephen Leicht (39th) was the fastest qualifying rookie. (NASCAR Statistics)(9-21-2012)

Pole Progression: (who had the pole first, who got it next and who ended up with it)
#36-Raines, 1st out to qualify, 128.359mph, starts 41st
#19-Green, 3rd out, 129.248, DNQ
#33-Leicht, 4th out, 130.367, starts 39th
#79-Bires, 7th out, 130.640, starts 38th
#10-Reutimann, 9th out, 131.180, starts 34th
#13-Mears, 11th out, 132.195, starts 30th
#95-Speed, 17th out, 132.595, starts 27th
#34-Ragan, 20th, 132.720, starts 26th
#9-Ambrose, 21st out, 133.110, starts 21st
#47-Labonte, 22nd out, 133.567, starts 17th
#88-Earnhardt Jr., 23rd out, 133.637, , starts 14th
#27-Menard, 25th out, 134.099, starts 7th
#18-Busch, 29th out, 134.753, starts 2nd
#24-Gordon, 46th out, 134.911, 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
[47 entered for 43 spots]:
have qualified for the race:
#95-Scott Speed, 132.595
#98-Michael McDowell, 131.929
#91-Reed Sorenson, 130.963
#87-Joe Nemechek, 130.837
#79-Kelly Bires. 130.640
#33-Stephen Leicht#, 130.367
#37-J.J. Yeley, 130.229
#30-David Stremme, 129.882
will miss the race:
#23-Scott Riggs, 129.714
#49-Jason Leffler, 129.701
#19-Jeff Green, 129.248
#26-Josh Wise#, 131.306 time disallowed failed post qualifying inspection as rear shocks exceeded limits

Friday practice for the Sylvania 300 Sprint Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway is over, after 90 scheduled minutes, the top 5, slowest and notes:
#11-Hamlin 134.820
#24-Gordon 134.174
#78-SMith 134.009
#14_stewart 133.891
#29-Harvick 133.872
slowest: #36-Raines 128.199 and #32-Olsen 129.248
track record is: 135.232mph set in July 2011
notes: #14-Stewart amd #42-Montoya both spun in separate incidents just as practice started, neither suffered any major damage.
This practice will set the order for qualifying, which is scheduled for 3:40pm/et today, but will NOT be televised live but after the Truck Series race around 10:00pm/et. You can also listen to qualifying online at goprn.com or follow my Twitter @Jayski_NASCAR.
See speeds, best top-10 average and laps run on the New Hampshire practice 1 speeds page (pdf). (9-21-2012)

Go-or-Go Homers practice at New Hampshire: how fast/slow were the drivers who are not in the top-35 of owners points and must qualify by speed to make the Sylvania 300 Sprint Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway , where they practiced in the first practice:
the eight drivers who would make the race if things stayed the same:
#95-Speed, 31st fastest overall
#98-McDowell, 33rd
#26-Wise, 34th
#91-Sorenson, 35th
#49-Leffler, 36th
#87-Nemechek, 38th
#79-Bires, 40th
#37-Yeley, 41st
the four drivers who would miss the race if things stayed the same:
#30-Stremme, 42nd
#33-Leicht, 43rd
#23-Riggs, 44th
#19-Green, 45th
(9-21-2012)

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.