IndyCar Ace Confirms His Intentions To Battle For Cup’s Rookie Of The Year

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Sam Hornish, Jr. felt more of a sense of relief than a sense of accomplishment after he finally qualified for a Nextel Cup race on Friday night.
It made it easier for Hornish to save face Saturday night when the three-time IndyCar champion and 2006 Indianapolis 500 winner officially announced his jump from IndyCar to NASCAR in 2008.
After failing to make the field in his first six attempts, Hornish was able to start Sunday’s Checker Auto Parts 500 when he ran a lap at 131.062 miles per hour in a Penske Racing Dodge.
“Finally,” Hornish said after getting in on his seventh try. “We went to Loudon thinking it was going to be our first start and we were actually pretty close to having it happen there. These were the tracks we thought would suit us the best, but at Martinsville we were bumped out by the past champion’s provisional and at Loudon we were the first car to not make the race.
“We were fourth of the go-or-go-home guys in practice today and we were finally able to make it in qualifying, so I’m really happy about that.”
Hornish finished 30th in the race, two laps down.
Hornish’s goal was to gain valuable experience in a Cup race so he can learn more for his NASCAR rookie season in 2008.
“We should have done more this year,” Hornish said. “The big thing is to work as hard as we can to prove that we are making the right decision.”
There are many who wonder if Hornish and Penske Racing are indeed making the right decision.
He was a home-grown product of the Indy Racing League and became the face of the series. He was a tremendous talent from Defiance, Ohio, and was the champion when he was just 21 in 2001 for Panther Racing.
When Penske Racing left CART to join IndyCar fulltime in 2002, Hornish and Panther were able to battle the top team in that form of racing and win a second-straight title.
By 2004, Hornish had joined Team Penske and delivered with the IndyCar title and the Indy 500 in 2006.
More importantly, Hornish was “Mr. IRL.” He was the driver who could lead IndyCar back to the front page and didn’t need to join NASCAR to do that.
But when team owner Roger Penske and Hornish decided they had accomplished all they could in IndyCar, it led the driver to NASCAR.
“The only goal that I had when I started racing was to make it to the Indianapolis 500 and qualify for the race,” Hornish said. “Everything I’ve done since making that race for the first time in 2000 has been a bonus. I’ve worked really hard to be successful as an IndyCar driver and I felt at times this year I was complacent and didn’t do everything I could.
“This is going to be a big challenge for me. It’s biting off a whole lot and seeing if I can chew it. That’s been something that I’ve needed and hopefully it will be the right decision.”