Rain washes out qualifying in Fontana

It doesn't rain very often in Southern California but when it does, it creates problems. NASCAR found that out on Friday at Auto Club Speedway.

After a day-long effort to dry the track, a mid-afternoon downpour finally forced NASCAR officials to cancel the entire day's activities. That meant no Sprint Cup qualifying, as five cars were sent packing without making a lap. Nationwide Series and Craftsman Truck Series qualifying were also wiped out.

The field for Sunday's Auto Club 500 was set by the NASCAR rulebook. That puts Hendrick teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon on the front row, while A.J. Allmendinger, Ken Schrader, Patrick Carpentier, Mike Skinner and Burney Lamar failed to make the field.

Kurt Busch, Dale Jarrett and Bill Elliott were added because of past champion's provisionals, while Brian Vickers, David Reutimann and Michael Waltrip are currently in this season's top 35 in owner's points. John Andretti and Joe Nemechek were the final two cars to make the field, based on their finishes in last week's Daytona 500.

Heavy overnight rains ended by mid-morning and skies brightened considerably, but track officials then battled a situation in Turns 3 and 4 where water was continuously seeping through cracks in the pavement. In addition, one of the jet dryers accidentally melted a portion of the asphalt.

Even with all that, officials were close to having the track ready when the last storm hit. The revised schedule now has Nationwide Series final practice beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET, followed by the Craftsman Truck Series San Bernardino County 200 at 3 p.m. The Stater Bros. 300 is set for 7:30 p.m.

The latest weather forecast shows partly cloudy and a high near 60 for Saturday, but another front is expected to reach Southern California by late Saturday night

Sprint Cup Lineup based on last year's point standings

POS

CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR
1 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's
2 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont Cromax Pro
3 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet DIRECTV
4 17 Matt Kenseth Ford Carhartt
5 5 Casey Mears Chevrolet CARQUEST / Kellogg's
6 20 Tony Stewart Toyota The Home Depot
7 77 Sam Hornish Jr.* Dodge Mobil 1
8 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet AT&T Mobility
9 99 Carl Edwards Ford Dish Network
10 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil
11 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker
12 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Freight
13 12 Ryan Newman Dodge ALLTEL / Samsung HDTV
14 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3M
15 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet AMP Energy / National Guard
16 8 Mark Martin Chevrolet Principal Financial Group / Mark Martin's 700th start
17 01 Regan Smith* Chevrolet Coors Light
18 26 Jamie McMurray Ford Crown Royal
19 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge Hamburger Helper "My Hometown Helper"
20 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Budweiser
21 42 Juan Montoya Dodge Wrigley's Juicy Fruit
22 18 Kyle Busch Toyota Interstate Batteries
23 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Energizer e2 Lithium
24 6 David Ragan Ford So. Cal Insurance
25 96 J.J. Yeley Toyota DLP HDTV
26 40 Dario Franchitti* Dodge Target
27 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge U2 3D / Best Buy
28 7 Robby Gordon Dodge Jim Beam
29 15 Paul Menard Chevrolet Quaker State / Menards
30 28 Travis Kvapil Ford Yates Racing
31 66 Scott Riggs Chevrolet Haas Automation
32 38 David Gilliland Ford FreeCreditReport.com
33 70 Jeremy Mayfield Chevrolet Haas Automation
34 22 Dave Blaney Toyota CAT Paving Products
35 45 Kyle Petty Dodge Wells Fargo
36 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite
37 44 Dale Jarrett Toyota UPS
38 21 Bill Elliott Ford Little Debbie
39 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull
40 00 David Reutimann Toyota Aaron's Dream Machine
41 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota NAPA AUTO PARTS
42 34 John Andretti Chevrolet Front Row Motorsports
43 78 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet Furniture Row Racing
DNQ
44 84 A.J. Allmendinger Toyota Red Bull
45 49 Ken Schrader Dodge Qtrax.com
46 10 Patrick Carpentier* Dodge Charter Communications
47 27 Mike Skinner Toyota Bad Boy Mowers
48 08 Burney Lamar Dodge rhino's energy drink