Cup qualifying rained out again

For the third straight week, NASCAR has been forced to line the field up by points as rain washed out Friday’s qualifying session for Sunday’s Pep Boys Auto 500 Sprint Cup event at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Points leader Jimmie Johnson will start on the pole for the third consecutive week, followed by Greg Biffle, Jeff Burton, Carl Edwards and Clint Bowyer.

With four races left in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, Johnson came into Atlanta with a 149-point advantage over Biffle, riding a wave of momentum from his dominating victory last weekend in Martinsville and looking to pad his lead here at Atlanta, where he is the defending race winner with three top-two finishes in his last four Atlanta starts.

Rain moved in during the early morning but tapered off by the afternoon as teams prepared to begin their first practice session. As jet dryers dried the track, practice was pushed back into the evening, but no sooner had the cars hit the track at about 5:00 pm that a light mist began to fall over the track, forcing NASCAR to finally cancel the session at 6:00 pm.

Kevin Harvick will start from the sixth starting spot on Sunday, followed by Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Matt Kenseth.

Missing the race were Bryan Clauson and Joey Logano. Pete McCole reporting from Atlanta