Date: May 4, 2013
Event: Aaron’s 499 Qualifying (Round 10 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway (2.66-mile oval)
Pole Winner: None, qualifying canceled due to rain (field set via NASCAR rulebook)
SHR Lineup: Ryan Newman (5th)
Danica Patrick (23rd)
Tony Stewart (25th)
Rain canceled Saturday’s qualifying session for the Aaron’s 499 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. As a result, the 43-car field for Sunday’s 188-lap event around the 2.66-mile oval was set by taking the fastest lap each driver posted during Friday’s first practice session, per the NASCAR rulebook.
Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), will start fifth. His teammates, Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS, and Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet SS, will start 23rd and 25th, respectively.
Newman’s fast lap in practice was 47.990 seconds at 199.542 mph. Patrick turned a lap of 48.501 seconds at 197.439 mph, and Stewart stopped the clock in 48.616 seconds at 196.972 mph.
Carl Edwards will start first as he posted the fastest speed in Friday’s first practice session with a lap of 47.958 seconds at 199.675 mph. Joining him on the outside of row one is Martin Truex, Jr., who timed in at 47.964 seconds at 199.650 mph. Marcos Ambrose (47.974 seconds at 199.608 mph), Joey Logano (47.977 seconds at 199.596 mph) and Newman comprise the remainder of the top-five.
Forty-four drivers were slated to qualify for the 43-car field. The rainout determined that Elliott Sadler is the lone driver who will not start the race.
The Aaron’s 499 gets underway at 1 p.m. EDT Sunday with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with a pre-race show at noon.
-SHR-