SRT Motorsports - Nationwide Race Recap - Road America

June 22, 2012 , Elkhart Lake, Wisc. -  Sam Hornish Jr. stayed out of trouble and kept all four wheels on the road – literally – to score a fifth-place finish in the Sargento 200 at Road America Saturday afternoon.

Hornish grabbed his third top five of the season and chopped 11 points off Elliott Sadler’s lead in the Nationwide Series championship standings. He now trails Sadler by 34 points entering next week’s event at Kentucky Speedway. Hornish led once in the race for three laps.

The driver of the No. 12 Alliance Truck Parts Dodge said he had a simple strategy entering the weekend’s event at the 4.048-mile road course, a track known for chaotic racing.

“We were just trying to be smart,” Hornish said. “My goal for the weekend was to make sure that we weren’t sitting in any sand traps. I’m really happy about that and to be able to pass some really good road racers there towards the end, I feel like it was pretty good. There were some guys running into each other on the last lap and I did everything I could do to try to stay out of that.”

The strategy worked, despite the fact Hornish was involved in a rambunctious five-car battle for fourth-place in the closing laps featuring Max Papis, Danica Patrick, Brian Scott and his Penske Racing teammate for the weekend, Jacques Villeneuve.

“I couldn’t race those guys the way that you would want to because I have a lot more to lose,” Hornish said. “I know Danica is running for points but she’s not fourth in points and chasing down a championship. She’s able to run a little bit harder. Max and Jacques, they’re coming to run the road courses and see what happens. It’s kind of like you’ve got one hand tied behind your back. At least I didn’t put myself there.

“I just tried to play it smart and it worked out. I got around the 7 (Patrick) and then I pressured the 22 (Villeneuve) enough to get him a little bit loose in the kink. Jacques is a hell of a driver, so anytime I can pass him on the last lap when he’s still on the track that’s good.”

Villeneuve was behind the wheel of the No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger at Road America. He grabbed the lead on lap 21 of the 50-lap race and promptly pulled away from the field, building a comfortable lead of nearly three seconds.

His day would take a sharp turn on lap 33. Villeneuve received a nudge from Michael McDowell in Turn 5 sending the No. 22 into a spin. The mishap dropped him to 22nd in the running order and forced him to play catch-up for the remainder of the event.

And he did the job, rebounding back into contention for a top-five finish as he raced in a tight pack of cars along with his teammate Hornish. On the final lap of the race, Villeneuve was racing hard with Papis when the two made contact, sending the No. 22 into the grass. As he returned to the track, he ran into the back of Patrick, sending the No. 7 into a spin. Villeneuve was credited with a sixth-place finish.

“We were racing hard and I wasn’t fighting with Danica,” Villeneuve said. “I was fighting with Papis and just before the braking, I guess he wanted to cross over and go to the inside of Danica. He probably didn’t know I was there, so it pushed me in the grass. You don’t slow down that much in the grass, so by that time I was back on the racetrack again, I was going a little bit faster than Danica.

“I got pushed around halfway through the race and then the steering was bent. I was the one being hit this year, so that’s fine. I was trying to stay clean and not hit anyone. I guess no one was being hit a little bit and at the end, because of that, I ended up running into Danica. At least this time it had nothing to do with me. It was really good until we got it bent. After that it was just lacking a little bit to race the other guys in front.”

Nelson Piquet Jr. scored his first-career Nationwide Series victory Saturday at Road America. Piquet led the final 17 laps and crossed the finish line 2.258 seconds ahead of second-place Michael McDowell. Piquet averaged 85.171 mph in a race that took 2 hours, 22 minutes and 35 seconds to complete. There were nine lead changes among eight drivers and five cautions slowed the event for eight laps.

Race Results
NASCAR Nationwide Series
Sargento 200
Road America
Saturday, June 23, 2012
1. Nelson Piquet Jr.
2. Michael McDowell
3. Ron Fellows
4. Max Papis
5. SAM HORNISH JR.
6. JACQUES VILLENEUVE
7. Brian Scott
8. Kurt Busch
9. Cole Witt
10. Justin Allgaier


Point Standings
NASCAR Nationwide Series
(After 14 of 33 races)
1. Elliott Sadler 517
2. Austin Dillon -11
3. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -23
4. SAM HORNISH JR. -34
5. Cole Witt -75
6. Justin Allgaier -76
7. Michael Annett -103
8. Mike Bliss -153
9. Brian Scott -178
10. Danica Patrick -180


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