May 2014 Pole Winner: #33-Brian Scott, 198.290mph, finished 42nd

October 2014 Pole Winner: #55-Brian Vickers, 196.127mph, finished 20th

Track Qualifying Record (no restrictor plate): Bill Elliott, April 1987, 212.809mph

Track Qualifying Record (Restrictor Plate): Bill Elliott, May 1990, 199.388 (15/16th inch plate)

Track Qualifying Record (Restrictor Plate): Kyle Busch, May 2014, 200.574 (1st round qualifying)

Oldest Pole Winner: Mark Martin, 52 years, 9 months, 14 days, 10/22/2011

Youngest Pole Winner: Brian Scott, 26 years, 3 months, and 21 days, 5/3/2014

Fastest First Practice Speed: #17-Stenhouse Jr., 200.780 mph

Fastest Happy Hour Practice Speed: #16-Biffle, 197.929 mph

Gordon wins Talladega pole: #24-Jeff Gordon won the Coors Light pole for the GEICO 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway with speed of 194.793mph for his 3rd pole of 2015, 4th at Talladega and 80th of his career. Gordon has won 20 races from the pole.
#5-Kahne is on the outside pole followed by #21-Blaney, #88-Earnhardt Jr., #48-Johnson, #14-Stewart, #27-Menard, #20-Kenseth, #18-Ragan, #15-Bowyer, #13-Mears and #9-Hornish Jr.
Missing the race were: #26-Burton and #95-McDowell.(5-2-2015)

Qualifying Fast Facts - Talladega:
#24-Jeff Gordon won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 46th Annual GEICO 500 with a lap of 49.160 seconds, 194.793 mph.
This is his 80th pole in 771 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.
This is his third pole and sixth top-10 start in 2015.
This is his fourth pole in 45 races at Talladega Superspeedway.
#5-Kasey Kahne (second) posted his seventh top-10 start of 2015 and his sixth in 23 races at Talladega Superspeedway.
#21-Ryan Blaney(i) (third) posted his second top-10 start at Talladega Superspeedway. It is his first in four races this season.
#83-Matt DiBenedetto (43rd) was the fastest qualifying rookie.(NASCAR Statistics)(5-2-2015)

First Round of Qualifying for the GEICO 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway is over, after all the cars have ran a lap.
#24-Gordon 194.749
#27-Menard 193.470
#20-Kenseth 19.423
#21-Blaney 193.423
#5-Kahne 193.151
the rest of the top 12: 88 18 48 9 14 13 15;
out of the top 12 and not advancing to round 2: 42 3 2 33 11 31 41 16 22 19 55 4 10 6 1 43 17 40 47 32 62 98 51 78 / 7 34 38 46 35 95 23 26 83
Drivers who will miss the race: #26-Burton & #95-McDowell.
(5-2-2015)

Superspeedway Qualifying Format for Talladega: The modified qualifying format at superspeedways will debut Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, May 2nd. Qualifying will consist of the following:
· Two rounds of qualifying, with the top-12 posted lap speeds advancing to the second round
· Race vehicles taking one, timed lap in each round of qualifying
· Each race vehicle will be released in a predetermined timed interval as determined by NASCAR, with the sanctioning body reserving the right to have more than one vehicle engaging in qualifying runs at the same time
· Qualifying order for the first round will be determined by a random draw; final round qualifying order is determined by slowest to fastest speeds from the first round
· A 10-minute break will occur between the first qualifying round and the final round
· Upon completion of the first qualifying round, the field will be set with positions 13 and beyond determined from first round qualifying speed
· The 12 fastest vehicles from the first round will have their speeds reset for the final round with starting positions 1-12 determined by the fastest laps in the final round
· NASCAR will impound race vehicles following each qualifying lap; vehicles advancing to the final round will be allowed to adjust tape and utilize a cool-down unit during the 10-minute break only
Qualifying will be aired on FOX, scheduled for 1:00pm/et (no re-air scheduled) on Saturday, May 2, 2015.(5-1-2015)

For group qualifying rules and starting procedures, see the Qualifying Rules page

Coverage of Qualifying for the GEICO 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway is scheduled for Saturday, May 2, 2015 at 1:00pm/et.
Television (TV): FOX, 1:00pm/et
Radio: Live online at Motor Racing Network (MRN)
Scheduled Qualifying Re-Air: none scheduled

Pole Progression for the GEICO 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway:
progression of the pole, round 1 and the final round, drivers went out one-by-one, order randomly selected.
#10-Patrick, 1st out, 191.835, 1st round, failed to advance, starts 25th
#33-Scott, 3rd out, 192.765, 1st round, failed to advance, starts 16th
#5-Kahne, 4th out, 193.154, 1st round, advanced to final round, starts 2nd
#27-Menard, 7th out, 193.470, 1st round, advanced to final round, starts 7th
#24-Gordon, 24th out, 194.749, 1st round, advanced to final round, starts 1st
#15-Bowyer, 1st out in final round, 192.808, starts 10th
#14-Stewart, 3rd out in final round, 193.419, starts 6th
#48-Johnson, 5th out in final round, 193.427, starts 5th
#88-Earnhardt Jr., 7th out in final round, 193.599, starts 4th
#5-Kahne, 8th out in final round, 193.685, starts 2nd
#24-Gordon, 12th/last out in final round, 194.793, WON Pole

Rookie of the Year Candidates Qualifying Results:
#26-Jeb Burton, failed to qualify
#33-Alex Kennedy, not entered
#55-Brett Moffitt, not entered
#83-Matt DiBendetto, starts 43rd

Happy Hour Practice for the GEICO 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway is over, after 55 scheduled minutes, the top-five, slowest and notes:
#16-Biffle 197.929
#14-Stewart 197.859
#43-Almirola 197.696
#48-Johnson 197.175
#3-Dillon 197.122
Slowest of the 38 who made runs: #26-Burton 187.335 & #23-Yeley 188.500
Seven drivers didn't make a run: #11-Hamlin, #15-Bowyer, #19-Edwards, #31-Newman, #47-Allmendinger, #55-Waltrip and #78-Truex Jr.
notes: there were no incidents, and a mix of teams drafting and single car runs.
#16-Biffle had the best 10 consecutive lap average at 195.312.
See best speeds, laps run, Best 10 Consecutive Lap Average on the Talladega Happy Hour Practice Speeds page (pdf).(5-1-2015)

First Friday Practice for the GEICO 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway is over, after 55 scheduled minutes, the top-five, slowest and notes:
#17-Stenhouse Jr. 200.780
#55-Waltrip 200.742
#34-Buescher 200.268
#11-Hamlin 199.675
#18-Ragan 199.662
slowest: #26-Burton 187.024 & #83-DiBenedetto 187.141
notes: there were no incidents, and a mix of teams drafting and single car runs.
#18-Ragan had the best 10 consecutive lap average at 196.969.
See best speeds, laps run, Best 10 Consecutive Lap Average on the Talladega Practice 1 Speeds page (pdf).(5-1-2015)

Race info at: Race Info Page

Event Entry List

Qualifying Rules

Past Champions Provisional

All Time Sprint Cup Pole Winners

2015 Pole Winners / 2016 Sprint Unlimited

For the group qualifying rules and starting procedures, see the Qualifying Rules page

Qualifying order is by a random draw. One hour before the start of the 1st practice for an upcoming race, a driver or team member chooses a number from a basket that is spun(like a bingo or lottery type basket) which is located in a designated area, usually where the rookie meeting is being held. The order is by owners points, with the team ranking highest choosing first. There are one more ping pong ball so there is one spot left when all teams have chosen, the number not chosen is just skipped when qualifying is run.