Sam Hornish Jr Joins NASCAR
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Posted by Jeremy Dunn Nov 8, 2007 |
Sam Hornish Jr has become the latest open wheel driver to migrate over to the NASCAR neck of the woods. The Ohio native has accomplished just about everything there is to accomplish in Indy Car racing as he owns three IRL championships as well as an Indianapolis 500 trophy.
However, Hornish Jr has really struggled in stock cars. His performance has been lackluster in the NASCAR Busch Series, and he has yet to qualify for a Nextel Cup race in seven attempts. The latest speculation is that team over Roger Penske will shift Sprint Cup owner's points from the 2 team driven by Kurt Busch to the new 77 team that will be driven by Sam Hornish Jr. This would ensure a starting spot for both teams as Kurt Busch has his past champions provisional to fall back on if need be.
Hornish Jr, with full support from Penske Racing and Mobil 1, welcomes the new challenge ahead of him.
"I feel like this is something that is a new and unique challenge for me," Hornish said. "It may or may not be the right way to look at it, but I feel like I accomplished just about everything in Indy cars. I got to do more than I ever thought I would."
He also addressed his lack of qualifying successfully for a Cup race thus far. "I am a much better racer than I am a qualifier, and if I can just get in, I feel confident I can figure it out," said the 28 year old.
Hornish will join Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman at Penske Racing. Busch and Newman have won a plethora of races this decade so the pressure will be on Hornish Jr to perform. Penske fielded three teams in 2004 and 2005 with Brendan Gaughan and Travis Kvapil.