Late-Race Accident Relegates Hornish To 36th-Place Finish In Stock Car Debut
Sam Hornish Jr. and wife Crystal with the Penske Racing NASCAR Busch Series team.
AVONDALE, Ariz. (Nov. 11, 2006) – A two-car incident that collected Sam Hornish Jr. with 14 laps remaining in Saturday's Arizona.Travel 200 eliminated the Indy Racing League champion from the event and relegated him to a 36th-place finish in his NASCAR Busch Series debut.
Hornish was running 34th on the 1-mile track when Stephen Leicht and Willie Allen collided in turn four and began sliding sideways. Hornish's Dodge, which had nowhere to go, then hit the front of Allen's Dodge.
Still, Hornish didn't think his inaugural stock car race was too bad.
"We tried to make the car better through some of the runs and we actually got there a few times, finding little things that helped out," Hornish said. "Unfortunately, we never got the car where it needed to be. Heading into the race, I knew that it was going to be extremely difficult to find out exactly what the car needs to go fast, and what it needs to go fast over long runs."
Crew chief Matt Gimbel notes that communication is the primary issue at this time, "getting Sam to the point where he has a feel for the car and he knows exactly what he needs to go faster."
"As much as we tested," Gimbel continued, "we got to the point that we needed to go to the race track and see exactly where we were with everybody else."
Hornish qualified 27th a few hours before the green flag waved on the scheduled 200-lap race, and fought a tight race car throughout the event that was extended by three laps due to a green-white-checker finish.
On lap 11, Hornish's Mobil 1 Dodge brushed the wall as he exited turn 2, an incident that caused the car to push even more. However, with six of the race's 11 yellow flags in the race's first half, Hornish managed to remain on the lead lap.
Chassis and air pressure adjustments on lap 55 helped the car's handling. That resulted in the Mobil 1 crew removing a round of wedge from the right front and putting a round of wedge in the right rear on each subsequent pit stop.
By lap 88, Hornish had cracked the top 25 and on lap 98 he was running 22nd. However, a pit stop during the seventh caution period – laps 104-108 – dropped Hornish to 29th for the caution period's restart. The restart, however, wasn't a good one for Hornish. He was bumped in the rear and as he exited turn 2, he again brushed the wall.
Sam Hornish Jr. leads Jon Wood through a turn at Phoenix.,
"One of the reasons I wanted to come over here (NASCAR) and try it was because I wanted another challenge, and today proved to be that," Hornish said. "We're going to go to Miami next week and try it again."
NASCAR's Busch Series wraps up its 2006 season Nov. 18 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
__________________
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Ryan Newman, Daytona 500 Champion!! To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Sam Hornish Jr., three-time IndyCar Series Champion and 2006 Indianapolis 500 race winner, will attempt to qualify the No. 39 Mobil 1 Dodge for his second NASCAR Busch Series event at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday. Hornish has competed at Homestead-Miami Speedway six times in IndyCar competition, with an average starting position of 3.6. Hornish has visited victory lane at Homestead-Miami Speedway three times – 2001, 2002, and 2004 - compiling an average finish of 3.0. His 2004 victory marked the first time an open-wheel driver had won in his inaugural race with Penske Racing.
Good Luck Sam and Pensle Racing!
__________________
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Ryan Newman, Daytona 500 Champion!! To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
I think he needs rusty wallace back.... they got along so lovingly...lol... I think newmans aggresion towards his teammate caused him to be hungry to beat the #2.. now that he has Kurt Busch... ev1 hates kurt... where before they all loved Rusty... he was jealous of rusty's popularity... caused a burning fire within the led him to get the pole and a fire in his belly to try to win.... he is satasfied that he no longer has rusty.... so his desire is down... his is lost without his rival teammate... bring back rusty... brings back newman....lol just a theory...
__________________ Auto racing, bull fighting and mountain climbing are the only real sports... the rest are just games........ Earnest Hemmingway
~LOL~ Oh bigE you do amuse mrsmopar! I highly doubt that Ryan Newman would want Rusty Wallace back as a team mate under any circumstances! I always felt that Rusty was very threatened by Ryan and that that is why they didn't get along. Rusty refused to be a team mate and wouldn't share notes or set ups with the 12 team. Maybe that did make Ryan a bit more hungry than he has been this year, but take Rusty back, oh I think not!
I believe that the real problem with Penske racing this year has been the hesitance of Roger Penske to do any experiments with the coil binding of the springs. This is a "grey area" in the Nascar rule books right now and has gotten HMS in big trouble earlier this year, and maybe RCR too, but on that I am unsure. Remember the 4 race suspension that "Cheatin" Chad Knaus got at the beginning of the season? Roger Penske didn't want to do anything like that that would be perceived as cheating. Unfortunately the Dodge is so off areo wise that it needed it to really hug the track. Ray Everhamn has got the coil binding done to the Charger, hence why Kasey Kahne was the only Dodge to make the chase this year. With the new body coming out for Dodge this coming season, hopefully the coil binding will not be a factor.
__________________
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Ryan Newman, Daytona 500 Champion!! To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Early Race Incident Foils Hornish's Run In Ford 300
Sam Hornish Jr. will return to NASCAR in 2007, driving a limited schedule.
HOMESTEAD, Fla. (Nov. 18, 2006) – A couple of hours after qualifying 24th for Saturday's Ford 300 Busch Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Sam Hornish Jr. was advancing through the field when his night ended much sooner than expected.
An incident on lap 4 of the 200-lap race sent Hornish to the 1.5-mile track's garage and eventually relegated the Indianapolis 500 winner to a 43rd-place finish in his second Busch Series event in as many weeks.
"Once again, it was a shorter day than what we were hoping for," Hornish said. "The Mobil 1 Dodge was really good at the beginning. We passed quite a few cars and I was real comfortable.
"Matt (Gimbel, crew chief) and the guys brought a great car; the car is there. I know I need to continue to learn and make myself better in order to be successful at this."
Hornish's problem developed on the race's fourth lap when he elected the outside lane to maneuver around Todd Kluever. With that decision, Hornish ventured into the track's uncharted gray area and slammed the first-turn wall.
"I drove it in a little too hard, too high and tried to turn a little too late and the backend came around," Hornish explained. "It was unfortunate, but I'm glad I did not take anyone else with us."
The incident left Hornish's car with severe sheet metal and chassis damage. The Mobil 1 crew first attempted to repair the car in its pit stall, removing the left rear bumper guard.
When Hornish returned to the track, Gimbel told the Indy Racing League champion to take it easy and feel out his car. Hornish immediately reported his Dodge Charger was "way loose."
By lap 23, Hornish had fallen 10 laps off the pace. Three laps later, he reported the car was loose and pushing, but mostly loose entering the corners. On lap 30, Gimbel told Hornish to take the car to the garage for repairs. Upon closer examination, it was determined the damage was too severe to be repaired at the track. The front suspension had been shoved to the left and the engine was sitting cocked in the car.
"It shoved the steering box over into the oil pump drive," Penske Racing South President Don Miller said. "We didn't want to take a chance of something happening to the steering box and Sam getting hurt. There were many more negatives than positives to continuing in the race."
Hornish, who will defend his IRL title next year, will continue to test during the off-season and return in 2007 with a limited NASCAR schedule.
__________________
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Ryan Newman, Daytona 500 Champion!! To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
~LOL~ Moving things around to make room for the 2007 Busch Series Races, I will get NS to change the headers.
__________________
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Ryan Newman, Daytona 500 Champion!! To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
I highly doubt that Ryan Newman would want Rusty Wallace back as a team mate under any circumstances! I always felt that Rusty was very threatened by Ryan and that that is why they didn't get along. Rusty refused to be a team mate and wouldn't share notes or set ups with the 12 team. Maybe that did make Ryan a bit more hungry than he has been this year, but take Rusty back, oh I think not! 
Linear Mode
