Hornish Cops Nationwide Pole

Sam Hornish Jr. bolstered his bid to drive Penske Racing’s No. 22 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car in 2013, winning the pole position for this afternoon’s Zippo 200 Nationwide Series race at Watkins Glen International.

Hornish replaced AJ Allmendinger at the wheel of the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Sprint Cup Dodge last month, and is a leading candidate to assume the ride full-time next season. He claimed his first career Nationwide pole Saturday with a fast lap of 72.03 seconds at 122.454 mph. Former series champion Carl Edwards will start on the outside pole in his return to the Nationwide Series, with Paul Menard, Brad Keselowski, and Kyle Busch completing the Top-5.

Joey Logano will start sixth, followed by point leader Elliott Sadler, who enters this afternoon’s race with an 18-point advantage over Richard Childress Racing teammate Austin Dillon. Justin Allgaier, Brian Scott and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. complete the Top-10.

Four drivers failed to qualify for today's race; Derek White, Louis-Phillipe Dumoulin, Ryan Ellis and John Young.