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Up Close with Sam Hornish Jr., More On His Mind Than NASCARBy Anne Proffit
Sam Hornish Jr has more on his mind than the obvious questions of whether he’s going to be a NASCAR driver next year, how he feels about the current crazy season he and Team Penske are experiencing in the Indy Racing League’s IndyCar Series season.
While Hornish Jr. hasn’t had the bountiful season he experienced in 2006 when he reached the ultimate goal of scoring his first Indianapolis 500 Mile Race victory, the three-time champion has one victory at Texas Motor Speedway in June and lies fifth in the season-long points tally.
To get a good idea of where his mindset is, understand this comment: “I came into the IRL in 2000 but it took 6-7 years before anything good happened and that was my Indy win. It’s much more important than those championships,” to Sam Hornish Jr.
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There have also been problems, as Hornish’s four results outside the top 10 will attest. “We’re doing okay but it’s not the year we wanted,” he shrugged as he sat in the Infineon Raceway Sears Point media center the day before practice for the Motorola Indy 300 began. “I’ve made some mistakes, we’ve run out of the fuel” and he’s been caught up in other drivers’ problems.
“Some things last year went right and part of racing is being able to succeed when those things go right and not waste the good times and opportunities,” Hornish mused. Still, sitting on a total of 19 victories in his eight-year IndyCar career, Hornish can’t help but wonder when and if No. 20 will happen. He’s got three opportunities remaining in 2007 and two of them, including this weekend and next week’s races, are on road and street courses, not necessarily the Ohioan’s noted forte.
Then there’s all that talk about his protracted NASCAR experiences, which he considers a learning experience. Taking into account that Hornish Jr. hadn’t sat in a Busch car since May, he’s got a thimble-full of track time compared to his competition. Yet, last fall when he raced in Phoenix during the penultimate NASCAR race weekend, Hornish qualified on time amongst 57 drivers. Not too shabby.
Although Hornish and wife Crystal would probably enjoy spending some time in the Bay area of Northern California, he’s off to test at Nashville and Memphis next Monday and Tuesday, cutting into any extracurricular activities. “We fly here last night at 10:30PM and went to San Francisco this morning,” for some R&R. That’s all they’ll get as activities ramp up for the big race weekend here.
Coming up through the karting ranks and lower open wheel formulae, Hornish probably never envisioned himself an oval expert, but since he began driving in the IRL in 2000, that’s what he’s become. This year, though, Hornish has shown his increasing skills on the road and street courses that are cropping up in the League.
Leading into Infineon, his worst road/street course qualifying has been at St. Petersburg last April and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course last month, when he missed the Firestone Fast Six shootout by one spot, qualifying seventh. At Watkins Glen International he was second after qualifying fifth. Hornish has hopes of taking a spot in the shootout on Saturday afternoon.
“This is a very physical race track,” he said of the 2.26-mile Infineon road course with its elevation changes, chicanes and variety of challenges. “At Mid-Ohio we were fastest in the morning practice and we figured we had Firestone Fast Six. We dropped the ball by not qualifying well there; we were way too conservative.”
Here, he believes the 40-foot-wide circuit has a couple of places that lend themselves to good passing opportunities, in particular the entries to turns 5 and 9 on the 12-corner circuit. “Obviously we’re coming in hoping for a win,” but he’d be satisfied with a podium, not a normal concession for the fiercely competitive Hornish.
While everyone around him is speculating about his future plans, Hornish Jr. insists neither he nor team owner Roger Penske have a timetable for any decision. “It will be joint decision,” he said. “It’s got to be everybody’s choice and there is no deadline. He hasn’t made his mind up yet and we can’t push our hands, either way. Roger would have no problem filling the seat here if I leave,” Hornish noted.
Of even more importance, perhaps, than his racing plans are Hornish’s personal plans. Crystal will give birth to their first child early next year; her due date is February 10th. At this time, they don’t know what gender the child will be but “she wants to know and she usually gets what she wants. It would be easier if it were a boy because I’m the last on my grandfather’s side, but if we have to have five to keep the line going,” he laughs, they will.
Naming the child will be according to the family tradition if it’s a boy. He’d be Sam Hornish III. If they have a girl, well, there are a few names floating around, “but some of them were already taken,” he said. Hornish Jr. appears to be almost as excited about the pending birth as his racing career.
(c) 2007 Anne Proffit
PaddockTalk Perspective
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