Coverage of Qualifying for the AdvoCare 500(k) Sprint Cup Series race at Phoenix International Raceway is scheduled for Friday, November 9, 2012 at 6:10pm/et.
TV: SPEED - 6:00pm/et
Scheduled qualifying re-air: 11:30pm/et

2012 March Pole Sitter: #55-Mark Martin, 136.815mph, finished 9th

2011 November Pole Sitter: #17-Matt Kenseth, 137.101mph, finished 34th

Track Qualifying Record: Carl Edwards, 2/26/2011, 137.279mph

Oldest Pole Winner: Mark Martin, 53 years, 1 month, 25 days, 3/3/2012

Youngest Pole Winner: Kyle Busch, 20 years, 11 months, 20 days, 4/22/2006

Fastest First Practice Speed: #18-Busch, 137.788mph, 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

Kyle Busch wins pole at Phoenix: #18-Kyle Busch won the pole for the AdvoCare 500(k) Sprint Cup Series race at Phoenix International Raceway with a new TRACK RECORD speed of 138.788mph for his 2nd pole of 2012 and 10th career pole. Busch has won two races from the pole.
#56-Truex Jr will start 2nd followed by #11-Hamlin, #5-Kahne, #43-Almirola, #78-Busch, #27-Menard, #51-Smith, #14-Stewart and #55-Martin.
The go-or-go homers who made the race (8): #98-McDowell, #30-Stremme, #44-Reutimann, #33-Leicht, #19-Bliss, #26-Wise, #91-Leffler and #87-Nemechek.
The go-or-go homers who failed to qualify for the race (1): #37-Yeley.
See qualifying results & starting lineup below or on the Starting Lineup page (pdf).(11-9-2012)

Where will the 12 Chase drivers start at Phoenix?
[by points standings before the race]
1) #48-Jimmie Johnson 24th
2) #2-Brad Keselowski 14th
3) #15-Clint Bowyer 16th
4) #5-Kasey Kahne 4th
5) #17-Matt Kenseth 22nd
6) #24-Jeff Gordon 11th
7) #11-Denny Hamlin 3rd
8) #14-Tony Stewart 9th
9) #56-Martin Truex Jr. 2nd
10) #16-Greg Biffle 20th
11) #29-Kevin Harvick 19th
12) #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. 23rd
(11-9-2012)

Qualifying Fast Facts - Phoenix:
#18-Kyle Busch won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 25th Annual AdvoCare 500 with a lap of 25.943 seconds, 138.766 mph.
This is his 10th pole in 292 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. His last pole came in July at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
This is his second pole and 21st top-10 start in 2012.
This is his second pole in 16 races at Phoenix International Raceway. His last pole came in April 2006.
#56-Martin Truex Jr. (second) posted his 17th top-10 start of 2012 and his ninth in 14 races at Phoenix International Raceway.
#11-Denny Hamlin (third) posted his sixth top-10 start at Phoenix International Raceway. It is his 21st in 35 races this season.
#33-Stephen Leicht (35th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.(NASCAR Statistics)(11-9-2012)

Pole Progression: (who had the pole first, who got it next and who ended up with it)
#36-Blaney, 1st out to qualify, 128.691mph, starts 42nd
#32-Hill, 2nd out, 129.945, starts 41st
#33-Leicht, 3rd out, 133.620, starts 35th
#31-Burton, 4th out, 134.198, starts 33rd
#38-Gilliland, 8th out, 134.373, starts 31st
#22-Hornish Jr., 12th out, 135.171, starts 26th
#48-Johnson, 18th out, 135.440, starts 24th
#42-Montoya, 21st out, 136.003, starts 21st
#51-Smith, 22nd out, 136.872, starts 8th
#78-Busch, 27th out, 137.007, starts 6th
#43-Almirola, 29th out, 137.211, starts 5th
#56-Truex Jr., 40th out, 138.217, starts 2nd - TRACK RECORD
#18-Busch, 44th out, 138.766, starts 1st - TRACK RECORD

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:
#98-Michael McDowell, 134.948
#30-David Stremme, 134.343
#44-David Reutimann, 134.008
#33-Stephen Leicht, 133.620
#19-Mike Bliss, 133.576
#26-Josh Wise#, 132.817
#91-Jason Leffler, 131.329
#87-Joe Nemechek, 130.067
will miss the race:
#37-J.J. Yeley, 127.056

Friday practice for the AdvoCare 500(k) Sprint Cup Series race at Phoenix International Raceway is over, after 85 scheduled minutes, the top-five, slowest and notes:
#18-Busch 137.788
#11-Hamlin 137.242
#15-Bowyer 137.075
#5-Kahne 137.012
#56-Truex Jr. 136.873
#48-Johnson was 27th fastest
#2-Keselowski was 21st fastest
slowest: #36-Blaney 131.839 and #32-Hill 132.548.
the Phoenix track qualifying record was set in Feb 2011 at 137.279mph by Carl Edwards.
incidents: #22-Hornish Jr. wrecked just as practice started and the team pulled out a the backup car. #36-Blaney spun around and smacked the wall but drove the car to the garage. #31-Burton crashed about 20 minutes in to the practice, did enough rear damage to go to a backup car. Burton and Hornish Jr, were both able to get out and practice in their backup cars. Late in practice #16-Biffle smacked the wall and did some damage to the right rear of the car, the team started to pull out a backup car but then decided to fix the primary car.
This practice will determine the order for this afternoon's qualifying [slowest out first, fastest out last], scheduled for 6:10pm/et, televised on SPEED.
See speeds, best top-10 average and laps run on the Phoenix practice 1 speeds page (pdf). (11-9-2012)

Go-or-Go Homers practice at Phoenix: how fast/slow were the drivers who are not in the top-35 of owners points and must qualify by speed to make the AdvoCare 500(k) Sprint Cup Series race at Phoenix International Raceway, where they practiced in Friday practice:
the eight drivers who would make the race if things stayed the same:
#19-Bliss, 25th fastest overall
#98-McDowell, 31st
#30-Stremme, 32nd
#37-Yeley, 34th
#26-Wise, 35th
#44-Reutimann, 36th
#91-Sorenson, 38th
#87-Nemechek, 39th
the one driver who would miss the race if things stayed the same:
#33-Leicht, 42nd
(11-9-2012)

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.