WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Qualifying last, Kyle Busch did what he had never done before — he won a pole on a road course, shattering the track record at Watkins Glen International on Saturday.
“This feels very good,” Busch said after posting a lap of 126.421 mph around the 11-turn, 2.45-mile circuit. “I’ve won races at road courses, but never been the fastest guy for one lap. Joey Logano did it at (the road course) at Sonoma (in June). Hopefully, we can get a win.”
Busch, who qualified last after posting the best time in practice Friday, was nearly two mph faster than the mark Jeff Gordon set eight years ago. That knocked AJ Allmendinger off the pole and deprived Richard Petty Motorsports of a front-row sweep.
Allmendinger turned a lap at 126.041 mph to edge teammate Marcos Ambrose’s speed of 125.984 mph.
“I’ve always been pretty good here,” said Allmendinger, who sits 17th in the Sprint Cup standings. “To get a good finish tomorrow, we’re right there in points. Obviously, if we get a win, it puts us in a chance for the Chase.
“But I’m not looking at that as make or break. We feel like if we can just keep getting better as the year goes on and have a good, strong finish to the end of the season, that’s going to be what I’m going to look at.”
Jimmie Johnson and defending race winner Juan Pablo Montoya completed the top five. Teammates Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart, points leader Carl Edwards, Martin Truex Jr. and Regan Smith round out the top 10.
Kurt Busch Nationwide winner.
Subbing for injured Penske Racing teammate Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch held off Jimmie Johnson on a green-white-checkered finish to win the Nationwide Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen.
Busch beat his Sprint Cup nemesis by nearly a second for his third victory in 12 Nationwide races. He also deprived brother Kyle of his 50th career victory, which would have broken a tie with Mark Martin for the most in series history.
Logano edged Kyle Busch for third, and Carl Edwards was fifth. Paul Menard, Ron Fellows and Nationwide regulars Aric Almirola, Trevor Bayne and Elliott Sadler rounded out the top 10.
Franchitti captures pole
LOUDON, N.H. — IndyCar points leader Dario Franchitti won the pole for today’s 225-mile race at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Franchitti, who won the series championship the past two years, averaged 170.843 mph in his two qualifying runs. Oriol Servia, fifth in the standings, had the second-best average time of 169.831 mph and will start from the outside position on the front row.
Tony Kanaan and James Hinch- cliffe will start in the second row. Danica Patrick, with the 15th-best qualifying time in the 26-car field, will start on the inside of the eighth row in the first IndyCar race at the track since 1998.
Today’s races
NASCAR Sprint Cup Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen
Site: Watkins Glen, N.Y.
Time, TV: 11 a.m., ESPN
Track: Watkins Glen Inter- national (road course, 2.45 miles)
Race distance: 220.5 miles, 90 laps
INDYCAR Indy 225
Site: Loudon, N.H.
Time, TV: 1:30 p.m., KMGH-7
Track: New Hampshire Motor Speedway (oval, 1 mile)
Race distance: 225 miles/laps
Last year: This is inaugural race
