time, the mess at Talladega Superspeedway couldn't be pinned on the scary crashes typical of restrictor-plate racing.

Blame it on the rain. The Aaron's 499 was postponed until Monday after a 1-hour, 40-minute rain delay Sunday, leaving pole sitter Elliott Sadler and Co. to sit idle for much of the day - only to end up having to return and try again.

It's the first time since the spring of 1997 that a race had to be postponed at Talladega's tri-oval. NASCAR officials and Mark Martin both will hope for a repeat of that Winston Select 500.

Martin won a pristine race that didn't have any caution flags - imagine that - on a track known as much for crashes as for scintillating finishes.

Held three weeks after the scheduled date, the '97 race still stands as the track's fastest with an average speed of 188.354 mph. It was over in a hasty 2 hours, 39 minutes, 18 seconds.

Martin's not in bad position for a repeat, qualifying sixth for the Aaron's 499 on Saturday.

Sadler won the pole in qualifying, followed by Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards and Dale Jarrett.