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Rain washes out qualifying at Talladega Superspeedway; Almirola gets pole after fast practice

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Pit crew members push the carr of Jimmie Johnson back to the garage after rain forced the cancellation for Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Ala., Saturday, Oct. 19, 2013. Drivers will start based on their practice times on Friday. (AP Photo/Jay Sailors) (The Associated Press)

Pit crew members push the car of Kevin Harvick back to the garage after rain forced the cancellation for Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Ala., Saturday, Oct. 19, 2013. Drivers will start based on their practice times on Friday. (AP Photo/Jay Sailors) (The Associated Press)

Qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway has been rained out.

The 43-car field Sunday is now set based on speeds from the first practice session on the 2.66-mile trioval. That means Aric Almirola will start from the pole, with Jeff Burton claiming the outside spot on the front row. Almirola's teammate, Marcus Ambrose, gets the third spot.

Series leader Matt Kenseth will start from the 12th spot. His closest challenger, Jimmie Johnson, is in the 11th position.

Officials attempted to dry the track, but the rain continued through midday. With a truck race scheduled for Saturday afternoon and no lights at Talladega, NASCAR ran out of time to get in the qualifying session.