News Scan: Sam Hornish Jr. Ponders NASCAR Future After Failing To Qualify For Third Time
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Oct 07, 2007
Penske Racing
Sam Hornish Jr. said he is going to wait until after the season before sitting down with his team, sponsors and owner Roger Penske to decide where he’ll be racing next year.
Hornish failed to qualify at Talladega, his third miss in as many tries to make his Nextel Cup debut. He is committed to Car of Tomorrow races Oct. 21 at Martinsville, Va., and Nov. 11 at Phoenix, in addition to some Busch Series events.
Unlike fellow Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti, who as a rookie next year will inherit a car that is in the top 35 of the standings and thus assured of being in the first five races, Hornish would have to qualify week to week. Steve Ballard, IndyStar.com
Villeneuve is running for Bill Davis Racing, an organization that’s best Cup car is currently 36th in owner points. Franchitti is taking over a ride that’s 26th in points, and joining Montoya in a Chip Ganassi stable that’ll be sorely lacking experience. Hornish, meanwhile, has now failed in each of his three attempts to race this season.
But because of what NASCAR has become, these former champions aren’t only willing to take a risk by taking a ride, but it’s what they want. They see the empire that the France family has built, what it should continue to become, and they want a piece of the most competitive series in motorsports. DAVE D’ONOFRIO, ConcordMonitor.com
Sam Hornish Jr. was the 13th-fastest of 51 drivers who made qualifying attempts Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway, but it still wasn’t enough to earn the three-time IndyCar Series champion his first Nextel Cup start.
“Sooner or later we are going to get it figured out. It is mostly on my end right now, “ Hornish said after failing for the third time to make his Nextel Cup debut. “We did everything we could do. We knew this was going to be the hardest one for us to get into. “ Steve Ballard, IndyStar.com
