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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Rain Sets Starting Grid At Talladega
Jimmie Johnson will start from the pole in Sunday’s AMP Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted October 31, 2009   Talladega, AL
Due to the qualifying rainout Jimmie Johnson will start from the pole for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Amp Energy 500 race at Talladega Superspeedway. (Photo: Getty: Images)

Heavy storms in Central Alabama resulted in qualifying being rained out for Sunday’s AMP Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. As a result, the field will be set per the NASCAR rule book, which means the first 35 drivers will line up by owner points.

That puts NASCAR Sprint Cup points leader Jimmie Johnson on the pole, his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Impala SS flanked by the No. 5 Chevy of teammate
Mark Martin. Johnson leads Martin by 118 points with four races left in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Johnson said he’s not sure what Sunday’s race will bring. “I just don’t know. I think we’re all excited to see what takes place in the race,” said Johnson, a past Talladega winner who also have five finishes of 30th or worse at the 2.66-mile track. “We all know the dangers and what exists at this track. What can happen and we just hope we’re not in that category of what happens. So we’ll just prepare and do all we can. Focus on the things we can control and just be smart in the race. Still at the end of the day points are being paid. We’d love to finish as high as we could and hopefully that’s ahead of the No. 5 and the No. 24 (Jeff Gordon) but we’ll just have to take it as it comes.”

Tony Raines has withdrawn from the race, so no other drivers will miss it.

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of ?Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,? and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to




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