As of 2005, the process works like this:

Day one of Qualifications - "Pole Day", this Saturday - is used to fill the first 11 grid spots. Day two - Sunday - will determine the middle 11 starting spots. Next Satuday will see the last 11 spots filled. Next Sunday will be "Bump Day", when those still on the outside looking in get one (actually three - I'll get to that in a minute) last shot to make the field. If any of the days are rain-shortened or rained out, they will be folded into the following Qual Day's activities: If the field is full after Day 3, a rained-out Bump Day will not be made up.

Each car entered for the month may take up to three qualifiactions attempts on each Qual Day. As most of the top-teir teams bring "back-up" cars - marked with a "T" behind the car # - for their drivers, this means that some drivers could make up to six attempts in one day! A qualifiaction run consists of four laps, with the speed average used to determine grid positioning. After each of the first three days, the fastest 11 drivers/cars from that day will be awarded grid spots: everyone else will have to come back on the following Qual Day & try again.

If you've been able to follow along so far, good. Now let me throw a couple of scenarios at you: these have happened in the past and could easily happen again.

#1) A driver makes a qualifying attempt. He is not satisfied with his time and thinks that he can do better. He may opt to have his prior run annulled and go out to make another attempt. However,  if his new attempt proves to be slower than the previous one, he can't ask to have the first attempt re-instated: the new time is the one that he must now stand on - unless he still has a 3rd attempt available to use (and then he must stand on that speed). 

#2) The 11 fastest drivers from Day 1 get the top 11 grid spots. Then, the top driver (or 2 or 3 drivers) from Day 2 posts a  speed that is faster than the two slowest who made the cut on the previous day. That driver does not get the 9th starting grid spot! Because he/she didn't make the cut on Day 1, 12th spot is the best that he/she can hope for. It has happened in the past that a Day 2 driver has posted a speed better than the Pole-winning speed of a Day 1 driver. It has also occured that the driver who qualifieded in 33rd spot wasn't the actual slowest on the grid.

"Bump Day" is it's own creature. The slowest car of the 33 in the field is "on the bubble", and in danger of being knocked out if one of the cars that have not yet been successful in securing a grid spot can post a faster qualifying run. If they do, they are in and the slowest car is out; THAT car will now have up to three attempts to "bump" it's way back into the field by posting a better time than whichever can is now the slowest still on the grid. When you have up to six cars still trying to make the race (like we should have this year), Bump Day can be just as intense and exciting as Pole Day.  

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