Rain cancels NASCAR Nationwide qualifying at Talladega

The only activity at Talladega Superspeedway on Thursday was the slow drizzly rain that fell off and on all day.

The wet track finally forced NASCAR to pull the plug on the only two scheduled Nationwide Series practice sessions. That meant that a practice session had to be worked into Friday's busy track schedule, which meant the Nationwide qualifying session was canceled to allow for practice.

The 43-car field for Saturday's Aaron's 312 was then set by points, which puts Elliott Sadler on the pole. One driver didn't make the cut. Blake Koch, who wrecked in practice last week at Richmond, didn't even get to take a lap at all this week.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will join Sadler on the front row. Johanna Long of Pensacola will start 24th and Mike Harmon of Birmingport will start 42nd. Jeffrey Earnhardt, nephew of Dale Earnhardt Jr., starts 43rd.

Practice and qualifying for the ARCA Series race was also canceled. ARCA has one 55-minute practice session scheduled for Friday at 10 a.m. That will be crucial for drivers like Thomas Praytor of Mobile, who has yet to practice drafting at Talladega.

Matt Lofton will start from the pole for Friday's ARCA race, the International Motorsports Hall of Fame 250.