AJ Allmendinger claims his first Nationwide Series pole at Road America

Photo by Tyler Barrick/Getty Images
AJ Allmendinger put the Penske Racing Discount Tire No. 22 on the pole for the Nationwide Series Johnsonville Sausage 200 as rain threatened at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.

The last time the California native drove a Nationwide car was 2008, the year Nationwide became the title sponsor, but he won at the track in 2006 - back in his CART days. The Dinger's done a bit  of road racing since then, winning the 2012 Rolex 24 at Daytona and more recently competing this season in an IZOD IndyCar.

V8 Supercar visitor Owen Kelly of Australia will start the No. 54 Monster Camry on the outside pole, while Parker Kligerman and Justin Allgaier roll off third and fourth.

Elliott Sadler's weekend isn't going well; he lost an engine during his qualifying run, the second of the weekend. "

"This transmission's a lot different than anything I ever had," Sadler said. "It's hard to learn here at the racetrack like this." His OneMain Financial team will hustle to get the car on the track by the time the race starts and 5:00 ET today.

Full results:

Rank    Driver  
1   A.J. Allmendinger  
2   Owen Kelly  
3   Parker Kligerman  
4   Justin Allgaier  
5   Michael McDowell  
6   Nelson Piquet, Jr.  
7   Billy Johnson  
8   Sam Hornish, Jr.  
9   Brian Vickers  
10   Max Papis  
11   Trevor Bayne  
12   Johnny O'Connell  
13   Kyle Larson  
14   Austin Dillon  
15   Alex Bowman  
16   Regan Smith  
17   Cole Whitt  
18   Brian Scott  
19   Travis Pastrana  
20   Michael Annett  
21   Andrew Ranger  
22   Elliott Sadler  
23   Mike Bliss  
24   Jeremy Clements  
25   Stanton Barrett  
26   Brendan Gaughan  
27   Kyle Kelley  
28   Kenny Habul  
29   James Buescher  
30   Landon Cassill  
31   Mike Wallace  
32   Jeffrey Earnhardt  
33   Reed Sorenson  
34   John Young  
35   Eric McClure  
36   Jeff Green  
37   Kevin O'Connell  
38   Dexter Stacey  
39   Derek White  
40   Tony Raines  


AJ Allmendinger claims his first Nationwide Series pole at Road America AJ Allmendinger claims his first Nationwide Series pole at Road America Reviewed by Janine Cloud on Saturday, June 22, 2013 Rating: 5