Juan Pablo Montoya wins pole for Watkins Glen Sprint Cup race, looking for momentum

After doing his best The Invisible Man impersonation over the course of this past season, Juan Pablo Montoya has come storming back into the national spotlight over the last two weeks, this time setting a new track record to take the pole for Sunday’s Finger Lake 335 at Watkins Glen International.
The pole is his second of the season, after taking the top spot in qualifying last week at Pocono International Raceway.
Montoya entered NASCAR with a ton of fanfare but has failed to meet expectations. While it’s likely too late to save his 2012 season, a string of good finishes, highlighted by a win on Sunday would provide a lot of momentum and enthusiasm entering next season.
The Columbian set a track record with a qualifying effort of 1:9.438 at 127.020 mph around the 2.45-mile road course. Kyle Busch, the previous record-holder, will start second in Sunday’s race. Jimmie Johnson will start third and will be joined on the second row by Brad Keselowski.
Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series race is set to begin shortly after 1 p.m. It’s a 90-lap, 220.5-mile event - one of the shortest races on the calendar.
We’ll have a race thread up later in the morning. The complete qualifying results (not the starting lineup) can be found after the jump.

*Required to qualify on time, OP - Top 35 in Owner Points, PC - Past Champion,(i)Ineligible for driver points in this series