Sam Hornish Jr. Makes His Return to the NASCAR Nationwide Series with a Pole at Talladega

         With a time of 51.268 seconds (186.783 mph), Sam Hornish Jr. grabbed his sixth NASCAR Nationwide Series pole in his first start in the series on the year. Hornish, who was a mainstay in the Nationwide Series for a few years, was a championship contender a year ago for Roger Penske. He came home second in the points in 2013 and he was out of a ride after the season. Now, he is running for Joe Gibbs Racing part time and he looked to be in good form today as he took the pole. Hornish led the trio of Joe Gibbs Racing drivers at the front. Elliott Sadler followed close behind him in second starting spot and Darrell Wallace Jr. will roll off third after having speed the entire session. Two Ford rookies followed behind the Toyota drivers. Ryan Reed and Dakoda Armstrong will roll off fourth and fifth, respectively, which is the best starting spots for both of the drivers in their Nationwide careers. Behind the top five drivers, it was a mixed bag of surprises and disappointments. Some of the surprises include Landon Cassill, Blake Koch, David Starr, Jamie Dick, and Eric McClure, who all roll off in the top twenty. Some of the disappointments include Kyle Larson, Trevor Bayne, Dylan Kwasniewski, Kasey Kahne, Regan Smith, and Chase Elliott, who all start twentieth or worse. Like always at Talladega, we were left with a good many qualifying surprises due to the shear speeds, but this session was different. The Nationwide Series used the brand new group qualifying system for the first time at Talladega. To say it was action packed would definitely be an understatement. Battling all around the track, a qualifying wreck due to contact, and huge, dangerous moves all made this session one of the best of the year so far. After all was said and done in qualifying, though, a comeback driver was on top of the board. 

         Mike Bliss was the first driver to head on track for the first round of qualifying at Talladega. A group of drivers followed behind him and we immediately figured out how the session would go. It looked like getting into a pack would be key for running a quick lap. Strategy would also play a part. Bliss and his group mates decided to come down pit road without completing a lap to fake out all the rest of the drivers looking to qualify. Just a minute or two after this move, the first huge group of drivers went out on the speedway. After a warm up lap, the group was screaming around Talladega, making crazy moves. Ryan Reed jumped to the top of the board first after the warm up lap was completed and the shuffle at the top began. Ty Dillon and others moved to the top of the board, but Brendan Gaughan took the top spot and remained steady at the top as time clicked down. Behind Gaughan, the battle was on for the twenty fourth and final transfer spot. Kasey Kahne, Regan Smith, Chase Elliott, and others were all on the outside looking in. Fifteen minutes into the session, though, it would reach a halt for the moment. In turn 4, Kyle Larson was carrying a lot of momentum behind Tanner Berryhill and Regan Smith. Larson shot between the two and there wasn't enough room. He made contact with the other two drivers and Berryhill pointed towards the bottom of the track. He made contact with Derrike Cope and Berryhill slid back up the track. He piled into the outside wall and slid to a stop at the entrance of pit road. No other drivers hit him, but his car was damaged a good bit. The drivers pulled down pit road and the accident was quickly cleaned up. The clock started back and all the drivers looking to move into the second round returned to the track. The JR Motorsports teammates and Dylan Kwasniewski were all looking to move on along with a few others. Groups continued to look for speed on track, but as time expired on the first round, the same guys were still on the outside as Brendan Gaughan was on top of the board. Darrell Wallace Jr. took the twenty fourth and final transfer spot while drivers like Ty Dillon, Brian Scott, Trevor Bayne, Ryan Blaney, Sam Hornish Jr., Elliott Sadler, Ryan Reed, and others moved on. Now, twenty four remained and it would be a two round shootout for the pole.

       The clock started the ten minute second round and the chess match began. All the drivers lined up on the edge of pit road and no one was moving as the time started to click down. As the round reached the halfway mark, Mike Bliss led a group of drivers onto the track to start the second round. Once again, they played the strategy move and pulled down pit road before their laps began. The rest of the drivers pulled onto the speedway in bigger packs. After the groups ran warm up laps, Darrell Wallace Jr. was the first to jump to the top of the board. The packs quickly began to jostle positions looking to run the fastest lap of the round. As the seconds wound down, drivers like Trevor Bayne and Kyle Larson were battling to move on. They couldn't get the momentum from the draft and as time ran out, the two were still on the outside of the top twelve. Darrell Wallace Jr. remained at the top of the board at the end of the session and Ryan Blaney took the twelfth and final transfer spot. Sam Hornish Jr., Elliott Sadler, Brian Scott, Ty Dillon, James Buescher, Landon Cassill, Brendan Gaughan, Dakoda Armstrong, Chris Buescher, and Ryan Reed moved on while David Ragan, Trevor Bayne, and others missed the final round. Twelve drivers remained and one of the most action packed five minutes of the season were about to begin. 

        The five minute final round began like the second round. All twelve drivers lined up at the edge of pit road, just waiting for one driver to make the move. After two minutes passed, Brian Scott led a charge of Richard Childress Racing cars onto the speedway. At the back of the pack, all three Joe Gibbs Racing drivers knew what to do. Scott and the rest of his teammates were the first to run a timed lap, but it wouldn't be the fastest times. The Joe Gibbs Racing team took that honor as Darrell Wallace Jr. took the provisional pole, but a final lap would be coming. As others scrambled in front of them, the trio of Wallace, Elliott Sadler, and Sam Hornish Jr. remained calm. They came back towards the finish line with a head of steam. Wallace looked to be in control of the provisional pole, but Hornish had other ideas. With about a minute left, Hornish jumped to the top of the board and it seemed like he would stay there. All of the guys looked to run another lap, but it wouldn't be enough. The Joe Gibbs Racing drivers had secured the top three spots easily and Sam Hornish Jr. would be on the pole in his return to NASCAR's secondary series. After a qualifying session where breathing was rare, some drivers will breathe easily heading into tomorrow.

        Sam Hornish Jr. not having a full time ride this year in NASCAR was one of the most puzzling offseason stories. Hornish absolutely drove the wheels off his race car the entire year in 2013 and he came up just a few points short of winning the Nationwide Series championship. For him to not have a ride is actually quite preposterous. Well, Hornish hasn't become angry about it. He took his part time opportunity with Joe Gibbs Racing and now, he is going to make everyone wish he was driving for them. Elliott Sadler continued to look good to start the season as he walked away with a second place starting spot. Darrell Wallace Jr. will also make his NASCAR Nationwide Series season debut as he will roll off third after practically dominating the session. Ryan Reed looks to be on the rise the past few weeks after a struggling start as he will roll off fourth at a tough track. Dakoda Armstrong is in the same position as Reed and he will start fifth. Ryan Blaney will roll off sixth in another part time opportunity in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. The rest of the series regulars and drivers follow behind these six drivers. Some, though, will have work to do. Chase Elliott, Kasey Kahne, and Regan Smith, all of the JR Motorsports drivers, could not work out their plan correctly and each one of them will roll off outside the top thirty. We will see if these three can make their way to the front and battle for the win tomorrow. Plus, we have to watch out for the many underdogs scattered throughout the field to see if they are able to take the win. It looks like a great Aaron's 312 is building up for tomorrow and I will guarantee it will be one to watch on the year. Will Regan Smith repeat at Talladega, will Kasey Kahne redeem himself after crossing the finish line first last year, but having the win taken away due to a race ending caution just before the finish line, will an underdog battle to the win, or will another driver take the win? We will have to wait only one day to find this out and a whole lot more.
(More Stats Down Below!)




Top 5 Qualifiers (With Times):
1st: Sam Hornish Jr.    51.268 (186.783 mph)
2nd: Elliott Sadler     51.270 (186.776 mph)
3rd: Darrell Wallace Jr.     51.283 (186.729 mph)
4th: Ryan Reed     52.021 (184.080 mph)
5th: Dakoda Armstrong     52.044 (183.998 mph)

Notables Not in Top 5 (With Times):
6th: Ryan Blaney     52.202 (183.441 mph)
7th: Ty Dillon     52.253 (183.262 mph)
9th: James Buescher     52.369 (182.856 mph)
10th: Brian Scott     52.400 (182.748 mph)
11th: Brendan Gaughan     52.524 (182.317 mph)
20th: Kyle Larson     51.914 (184.459 mph)*
21st: Trevor Bayne     51.929 (184.406 mph)*
28th: Dylan Kwasniewski     51.345 (186.503 mph)#
31st: Kasey Kahne      51.680 (185.294 mph)#
32nd: Regan Smith     51.695 (185.240 mph)#
37th: Chase Elliott     52.666 (181.825 mph)
(*: These drivers were fast enough to be in the top twelve, but they did not move to the final round.)
(#: These drivers were fast enough to be in the top twenty four, but they did not move to the second round.)

DNQs:
41st: Chad Boat     51.696 (185.237 mph)
42nd: Derrike Cope      51.941 (184.363 mph)





Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nationwide-series/leaderboard/leaderboard-qualification.html
http://racing-reference.info/getqualify/2014-09/B
Image:
http://www.foxsports.com.br/noticias/153110-sam-hornish-jr-faz-a-pole-em-talladega-na-nationwide-series