Say What? Hornish wins road course pole
UPDATE A reader writes, Dear AR1.com, In IndyCar Sam Hornish was a backmarker on road courses, and he has been the same in NASCAR as well. So how then did he win the pole for the Nationwide at Watkins Glen Saturday over Carl Edwards. Was it to solidify PPG as a NASCAR sponsor? Was it that he's back in Cup so he has to be made to look good against the Nationwide drivers? Was it a NASCAR Timing and Scoring Computer glitch (feature)…..similar to Danica Patrick winning the pole at Daytona in her first race as a fulltime NASCAR driver as a reward for coming over?
We'll never know but strange things have happened in NASCAR, things which no one can explain. When the green flag drops and the real racing starts, look for Hornish to get run out of the lead early. Mordichai Rosen, Los Angeles
08/11/12
Lineup
| POS | CAR | DRIVER | MAKE | SPONSOR | SPEED | TIME | BEHIND |
| 1 | 12 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Dodge | PPG | 122.454 | 72.027 | Leader |
| 2 | 60 | Carl Edwards | Dodge | Subway | 122.340 | 72.094 | -0.067 |
| 3 | 33 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | Menards / Rheem | 122.105 | 72.233 | -0.206 |
| 4 | 22 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | SKF / Discount Tire | 122.076 | 72.250 | -0.223 |
| 5 | 54 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | Monster Energy | 121.931 | 72.336 | -0.309 |
| 6 | 18 | Joey Logano | Toyota | GameStop / buymytronics.com | 121.654 | 72.501 | -0.474 |
| 7 | 2 | Elliott Sadler | Chevrolet | Charter | 121.478 | 72.606 | -0.579 |
| 8 | 31 | Justin Allgaier | Chevrolet | Brandt | 121.466 | 72.613 | -0.586 |
| 9 | 11 | Brian Scott | Toyota | Dollar General | 121.196 | 72.775 | -0.748 |
| 10 | 6 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | Ford EcoBoost | 121.139 | 72.809 | -0.782 |
| 11 | 38 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | Great Clips | 121.082 | 72.843 | -0.816 |
| 12 | 88 | Cole Whitt* | Chevrolet | TaxSlayer.com | 121.014 | 72.884 | -0.857 |
| 13 | 20 | Ryan Truex | Toyota | Grime Boss | 120.733 | 73.054 | -1.027 |
| 14 | 30 | Miguel Paludo | Chevrolet | Duroline Brakes | 120.173 | 73.394 | -1.367 |
| 15 | 5 | Ron Fellows | Chevrolet | Canadian Tire | 120.095 | 73.442 | -1.415 |
| 16 | 199 | Victor Gonzalez Jr. | Toyota | Delta Commercial / IMCA | 119.918 | 73.550 | -1.523 |
| 17 | 19 | Alex Popow | Toyota | G-Oil / Noah's Light Foundation | 119.842 | 73.597 | -1.570 |
| 18 | 42 | Josh Wise | Chevrolet | Key Motorsports | 119.483 | 73.818 | -1.791 |
| 19 | 43 | Michael Annett | Ford | Pilot Flying J | 119.448 | 73.840 | -1.813 |
| 20 | 44 | Mike Bliss | Toyota | TriStar Motorsports | 119.397 | 73.871 | -1.844 |
| 21 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Chevrolet | USS James E. Williams DDG 95 | 119.085 | 74.065 | -2.038 |
| 22 | 47 | Stephen Leicht | Chevrolet | Curtis Key Plumbing | 119.064 | 74.078 | -2.051 |
| 23 | 7 | Danica Patrick | Chevrolet | GoDaddy.com | 118.998 | 74.119 | -2.092 |
| 24 | 159 | Kyle Kelley | Chevrolet | Jamison Eng. / UPR.com | 118.958 | 74.144 | -2.117 |
| 25 | 87 | Alex Kennedy | Toyota | Global Barter Corporation / Dream Factory | 118.900 | 74.180 | -2.153 |
| 26 | 97 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | AM / FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves | 118.612 | 74.360 | -2.333 |
| 27 | 81 | Jason Bowles* | Toyota | American Majority | 118.574 | 74.384 | -2.357 |
| 28 | 01 | Mike Wallace | Chevrolet | JD Motorsports | 118.199 | 74.620 | -2.593 |
| 29 | 41 | Timmy Hill | Ford | Lilly Trucking | 118.156 | 74.647 | -2.620 |
| 30 | 3 | Austin Dillon* | Chevrolet | AdvoCare | 118.137 | 74.659 | -2.632 |
| 31 | 40 | J.J. Yeley | Chevrolet | Key Motorsports | 117.971 | 74.764 | -2.737 |
| 32 | 15 | Chris Cook | Chevrolet | Lilly Trucking | 117.512 | 75.056 | -3.029 |
| 33 | 10 | Jeff Green | Toyota | TriStar Motorsports | 117.473 | 75.081 | -3.054 |
| 34 | 275 | Kenny Habul | Toyota | SunEnergy 1 Racing | 117.375 | 75.144 | -3.117 |
| 35 | 153 | Eric Curran | Dodge | Whelen / Michael J. Fox Foundation | 117.234 | 75.234 | -3.207 |
| 36 | 46 | Matt DiBenedetto | Chevrolet | The Motorsports Group | 116.766 | 75.536 | -3.509 |
| 37 | 39 | Matthew Bell | Chevrolet | Global Barter Corp. | 115.392 | 76.435 | -4.408 |
| 38 | 4 | Daryl Harr | Chevrolet | iWorld | 115.165 | 76.586 | -4.559 |
| 39 | 124 | Tim Connolly | Chevrolet | Michael Connolly Endowment for Lung Cancer Research | 114.973 | 76.714 | -4.687 |
| 40 | 14 | Eric McClure | Toyota | Hefty / Reynolds Wrap | 113.354 | 77.809 | -5.782 |
| 41 | 70 | Tony Raines | Dodge | ML Motorsports | 112.592 | 78.336 | -6.309 |
| 42 | 23 | Dexter Stacey | Chevrolet | R3 Motorsports | 110.957 | 79.490 | -7.463 |
| 43 | 89 | Morgan Shepherd | Chevrolet | Hyland's Leg Cramps | 116.277 | 75.853 | -3.826 |
| DNQ | 126 | John Young | Dodge | Eklekt Technologies Group | 115.775 | 76.182 | -4.155 |
| DNQ | 52 | Ryan Ellis | Chevrolet | Jimmy Means Racing | 115.734 | 76.209 | -4.182 |
| DNQ | 108 | Louis-Philippe Dumoulin | Ford | Banz-Zees | 114.511 | 77.023 | -4.996 |
| DNQ | 100 | Derek White | Chevrolet | Maxelence | 108.823 | 81.049 | -9.022 |