TALLADEGA, Ala. – For the first time in his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career, Michael Annett won’t take the green flag.
Annett in his No. 46 Pilot Travel Centers Chevrolet failed to qualify after posting the 43rd fastest time during qualifying Saturday afternoon at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
With only 45 cars entered for Sunday’s CampingWorld.com 500 (2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN), Annett had to qualify inside the top-36 to ensure himself a starting positioned based on speed. When the cars of Timmy Hill, Bobby Labonte and Michael Waltrip qualified on speed, Annett and Jeb Burton were the two drivers who failed to earn a starting berth for the final restrictor plate race of the season.
HScott Motorsports team owner Harry Scott Jr. told CATCHFENCE.com that there were no plans to move Annett into the No. 33 Chevrolet qualified by Travis Kvapil at Circle Sport Racing, despite a prior relationship between the two organizations earlier this season.
In late February, the No. 46 team and many others ran into problems during pre-qualifying technical inspection, which forced them to forgo their qualifying attempt which ultimately sent the newly formed team packing and Annett replacing close friend Brian Scott behind the wheel for the QuikTrip 500 at AMS. He finished 29th.
The DNQ (did not qualify) at Talladega puts an exclamation point to a less than ideal season for his second year of Cup competition. Outside of a strong 13th place finish at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in February, Annett has failed to finish inside the top-20 in 30 other races. Since Daytona, a pair of 23rd place finishes at Bristol (April) and Kansas Speedway (May) are his second best runs to date.
In May at the 2.66-mile superspeedway, Annett started 40th and finished 29th on the lead lap.
In three Talladega starts, Annett has a best finish of 16th earned last May when he drove for Tommy Baldwin Racing.
Entering Sunday’s race, Annett stood 36th in the championship standings.
Annett was unavailable for comment.
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