April 2011 Pole Sitter: #1-Jamie McMurray, 96.509mph, finished 7th

October 2010 Pole Sitter: #11-Denny Hamlin, 97.018mph, finished 1st

Track Qualifying Record: Tony Stewart, October 2005, 98.083mph

Oldest Pole Winner: Morgan Shepherd, 45 years, 6 months, 14 days, 4/26/1987

Youngest Pole Winner: Ricky Rudd, 24 years, 7 months, 14 days, 04/26/1981

Qualifying cancelled at Martinsville: Coors Light pole qualifying for the Tums Fast Relief 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway was cancelled due to rain. So the field was set by the rules book, the top 35 in owners points in positions 1-35 by their fastest practice speeds. Then the Go-or-go homers were set, by race attempts, then set by best practice speeds. So #99-Edwards starts 1st, followed by #17-Kenseth, #2-Keselowski, #14-Stewart, #29-Harvick, #18-Busch, #48-Johnson, #22-Busch, #88-Earnhardt, Jr., and #24-Gordon. The go-or-go homers who made the race (8): #71-Sadler, #7-Sorenson, #37-Skinner, #46-Speed, #66-McDowell, #87-Nemechek, #30-Stremme, and #55-Yeley.
The go-or-go homers who failed to qualify for the race (2): #92-Setzer, #75-Cope.
See the starting lineup, qualifying speeds and notes on my Martinsville Starting Lineup/Qualifying Results page.(10-29-2011)

Coverage of Qualifying for the Tums Fast Relief 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway is scheduled for Saturday, October 29, 2011 at 12:10pm/et.
Television (TV): SPEED, 12:00pm/et
Qualifying Re-Air: ?

Pole Progression: (who had the pole first, who got it next and who ended up with it)
#?-?, 1st out to qualify, ?mph, starts ?

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
[XX entered for 43 spots]:
still need to go out to qualify:
#7-Reed Sorenson,
#30-David Stremme,
#37-Josh Wise,
#46-Scott Speed,
#55-J.J. Yeley,
#66-Michael McDowell,
#71-Hermie Sadler,
#75-Derrike Cope,
#87-Joe Nemechek,
#92-Dennis Setzer,

Rookie of the Year Candidates:
how fast were they and where do they start:
#50-T.J. Bell (X), DNR
#71-Andy Lally, DNR
#92-Brian Keselowski (X), DNR
(X) = needs to race their way in to the race
DNR = Did not race
DNQ = Did not qualify for race

Some Qualifying Notes:
none....yet

Race Information, Links, Stats Page

Practice Speeds Page

Event Entry List

Sprint Cup Qualifying Rules

Past Champions Provisional page

All Time Sprint Cup Pole Winners

2011 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 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup rule book.

What happens if 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 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 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.
(all above apply as long as the team was entered by the entry deadline - usually 7-13 days before the race)

Another new twist to the qualifying format: Starting this weekend at Kentucky Speedway, there will be a rain-out qualifying procedure change for all three NASCAR national series. 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)