Talladega II: Sam Hornish Jr summary

No. 77 Team Does Not Qualify in Talladega

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Sam Hornish Jr., driver of the Penske Racing No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger, did not qualify for the AMP Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday afternoon.

With the No. 77 team currently outside of the top-35 in the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series owner points standings, Hornish was required to qualify for Sunday's race on time. He posted a fast lap time of 51.690 seconds at a speed of 185.258 miles per hour, but the effort was not strong enough to secure a starting position for the Mobil 1 team.

"This is certainly not the result we wanted today but we gave it all we had," Hornish said. "The entire Penske Racing organization was behind us this weekend. We were able to pick up over our practice times, but it just wasn't good enough today. I am very proud of this Mobil 1 team for the effort they put forth here at Talladega."

-credit: pr