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  • Sam Hornish Jr. Sets Track Record, Earns Coors Light Pole at Mid-Ohio

    Sam Hornish Jr. Sets Track Record, Earns Coors Light Pole at Mid-Ohio

    By Staff report | NASCAR.com

    Sam Hornish Jr. won the Coors Light Pole Award Friday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, setting a track speed record as well.

    Hornish Jr. wheeled his No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet around the 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course in Lexington, Ohio, at a track record-setting 96.755 mph in the opening session of qualifying. In the second and final session, with a fast lap of 96.374 mph, he sealed the first starting spot in the Mid-Ohio Challenge (3:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

    “The fact that we’re here. We’re as good as we have been, really, is hats off to RCR and all the people that work on the Rheem No. 2 car,” the polesitter said post-qualifying. “Right off the bat, this morning I was kind of worried about it being a little bit rusty. It’s been a little while since I’ve been on a road course.”

    This marks Hornish’s eighth career pole and first of 2016.

    Sharing the front row will be Owen Kelly, a road specialist who reached 95.877 mph in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

    Ryan Blaney, (95.739 mph in No. 22 Team Penske Ford), Elliott Sadler (95.675 mph, No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet) and Daniel Suarez (95.613 mph, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) completed the top five, respectively.

     

    Complete: Results

     

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: The CHEEZ-It 355 at The Glen

    Surprising and Not Surprising: The CHEEZ-It 355 at The Glen

    With no need for the Goodyear wet weather radials brought to the track just in case, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 30th annual CHEEZ-It 355 at the Watkins Glen International road course.

    Surprising:  Race winner Joey Logano held a make-up session at The Glen, first making up for losing the race the previous week on fuel mileage and second, making up for the four previous races where Team Penske lost out to a member of the Joe Gibbs Racing team.

    “It makes up for last week, the driver of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford said. “We lost the race last week the same way, so it makes up for it to get it this week.”

    “Team Penske, the last four races in a row, one of our cars finished second,” Logano continued. “Brad (Keselowski, Penske teammate) finished second a couple of times and so did we, so it feels good to break through and not be the bridesmaid anymore and actually get the checkered flag and have some fun.”

    Logano also made up for lost time for Team Penske, who won their first ever at Watkins Glen.

    “It means an awful lot to Team Penske,” Walt Czarnecki, Vice Chairman of Team Penske said. “This is Team Penske’s first Cup win at The Glen.  I believe this is our winningest track in the whole history of our company, going back to the Trans-Am and the Can-Am and Nationwide and XFINITY Series – a great run yesterday – so this is particularly meaningful for us to win here today in this race.”

    Not Surprising:  Given the challenges to the cars on road courses, it was not surprising that at least a few drivers uttered those dreaded two words, “Something broke.”

    Jeff Gordon, who had high hopes for a chance to make the Chase with a win at The Glen, had brake issues instead and went down four laps trying to fix it. Gordon finished 41st and slid from tenth to twelfth in the point standings.

    “We had a brake line issue,” the driver of the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet said. “It’s not like I hit anything or something came into it and broke it that we can see.  Something went bad with the line and it started leaking fluid and we started losing brakes.”

    “So we had to come in.  Unfortunately, it took us four laps to get that changed.  Just so hard to make up laps when you get that many down, especially at a track like this.”

    Tony Stewart, who qualified in the third position, also had a ‘something broke’ moment as a likely broken seal let all the rear end grease out of the axle, ending his day in the 43rd and final finishing spot.

    “When I came off of (Turn) 1 I could feel it like it was kind of pulling heavy and going up through the esses you could hear it let go right at the end of the esses,” Smoke said. “We are going to leave the rear end together and get it back to Charlotte (NC) and find out exactly what happened.”

    Surprising:  In a race that this driver had circled on his calendar, especially as the defending race winner, AJ Allmendinger’s day went to one that he wanted to ‘X’ out of his memory.  ‘Dinger suffered a power loss that left his No. 47 Kroger/Bush’s Beans Chevrolet dead on the track to finish a disappointing 24th.

    “When the battery died that obviously put us way behind,” Allmendinger said. “I thought the changes we made helped the car a little bit, but I got my lap back and drove as hard as I could to get as much as I could.”

    “I thought maybe we could get back to the top 10. Just 10 laps short.”

    Not Surprising:  Rodney Childers, crew chief for Kevin Harvick, must have had the Salt N Pepa song ‘Push It’ echoing in his head. And as he said, he ‘pushed it to nothing’ with his driver, who ran out of gas on the last lap of the race.

    Harvick was, however, able to coast to a third place finish, his eighth top-10 finish in 15 races at Watkins Glen International.

    “I thought I’d done a pretty good job of saving fuel under the caution,” Harvick said. “I was just running as fast as I needed to, to protect the lead.”

    “All in all, our Budweiser/Jimmy John’s team did a great job today and we were in position to have a win; two corners away.”

    Surprising:  Only a six-time champ could miss the inner loop and have to sit until the field passed him, have contact with another driver, as well as taking a spin on the track, and still finish top-10.

    Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, did just that, starting ninth and finishing the race in the tenth position in spite of all those challenges.

    Not Surprising:  Kyle Busch’s crew chief Adam Stevens was obviously scared straight, at least according to his driver. Busch finished second in his No. 18 M&Ms Crispy Toyota, his ninth top-10 finish in 11 races at Watkins Glen International.

    “I could’ve went up there, I could’ve raced the 22 (Joey Logano), I could’ve passed him,” Busch said. “I felt like I was better than he was, but my crew chief called in scared on the fuel situation from last week and I don’t blame him.”

    “We definitely didn’t want to run out again. We wanted to make sure we could be there at the end.”

    This was Busch’s sixth top-10 finish in 2015 and he is now 30th in the points and eligible for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

    Surprising:  It was a big ‘niner’ kind of day for Sam Hornish, who finished ninth in his No. 9 Medallion Bank Ford for Richard Petty Motorsports.

    “Our car was good,” Hornish said. “We were good in areas that some other cars weren’t and that helped us pass people when we could get to them.”

    “I felt like our car was definitely better than where we finished there, but you take what you can get on the days you have it and I’m just proud of everybody that works on this Medallion Bank Ford Fusion and the guys at RPM.”

    “A ninth is probably disappointing for them compared to what they’ve had the last few times coming up here, but the package is a little bit different.  I wish we could have had a little more practice time, but anytime you come home in the top-10 you can’t be too disappointed about it.”

    Not Surprising:  Denny Hamlin was definitely in the ‘hood’ at The Glen yet again. His hood flew up on top of the roof of his car, just like it had done at practice at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota had to have the hood replaced, relegating him to a 27th place finish.

    Surprising:  Matt Kenseth surprised himself, and no doubt everyone else, by scoring his best career finish at Watkins Glen, bringing his No. 20 Dollar General Toyota in the fourth position.

    “We ran pretty good,” Kenseth said in his typical understated fashion. “It’s always fun to feel like you overachieved I guess and we probably did that today. I’m sort of surprised we made it to the end but I’m really thankful we did.”

    Not Surprising: While Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon had his own problems, there were significant Chase implications for teammate Kasey Kahne, who was sidelined on Lap 49 due to multi-car accident, finishing 42nd.

    Kahne also lost two spots in the point standings, from 15th to 17th position.

    “Yeah, at this rate we’re going to need to win,” Kahne said. “That’s the only way we’ll go into the Chase.”

    “So hopefully we can run good at Michigan and maybe get a win there. We’ve won there before and also won there at Bristol before; so, maybe one of those tracks.  Darlington and Richmond; there are some tracks that we could run really well at.”

    The next Sprint Cup Series race on the circuit will be August 16 at Michigan International Speedway.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Brickyard 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Brickyard 400

    With a brand new rules package yet again here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 22nd Annual Crown Royal presents the Jeff Kyle 400 at The Brickyard.

    Surprising:  Forget Game of Thrones, Kyle Busch pronounced the Brickyard 400 the ‘game of restarts’.

    “It was a game of restarts at the end and who was helping who. That’s what this package allowed for today and what this race track gives,” Busch, driver of the victorious No. 18 Skittles Toyota, said. “First I have to thank Joey Logano, then I have to thank Martin Truex – those two guys behind me on those three restarts – they are the ones that just helped propel my car a little bit ahead so when I got to turn one, I could keep the gas down and pull ahead and get up to the lead.”

    “I’m still in shock. It’s all gone by so fast. Every week you go on to the next one, but this is something spectacular. I always dreamed of wanting to race here let alone win here.”

    This was Busch’s fourth win of the season and his third win in a row. He delivered not only his first victory at the Brickyard, but also the first win for Toyota at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Busch now sits just 23 points out of the 30th position for Chase eligibility.

    Not Surprising:  There were a number of ‘seconds’ that were hard pills to swallow. Joey Logano started second, finished second and continued to be second in the points. And of all those seconds, Logano said simply, “Second sucks. There are no trophies for second.

    “Yeah, the worst part is the same guy beat me the last two times I’ve finished second.”

    Both Trevor Bayne and Aric Almirola suffered seconds of their own, both wrecking twice, once separately as well as wrecking into each other. Almirola finished 38th and Bayne finished 40th.

    “We worked at it from the drop of the green,” Bayne said after the race. “Today just wasn’t our day with the AdvoCare Ford. But it’s on to Pocono next week where hopefully we can run well like we did in the spring.”

    Probably the most interesting of the ‘seconds’ was the fact that Austin Dillon not only sped on pit road but that he sped again for the second time while serving his penalty. After his second bout of speeding, Dillon soldiered on to finish 25th in his No. 3 Dow/Mycogen Chevrolet.

    Surprising:  While Kyle Busch was sweeping the Xfinity and Brickyard races, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was doing some brushing off of his own.

    “If it could happen today, it most likely did. Gotta brush it off and get back at it next week @poconoraceway. We like that place!” Junior tweeted after the race.

    The driver of the No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet also had a little fun with his misfortune, when he spun through the grass, leading to his 22nd place finish.

    “Although it wasn’t part of the plan, the trip through the grass reminded me of tearing through the yard in our go-kart when we were kids.”

    Not Surprising:  Jeff Gordon, who suffered heavy damage to his No. 24 3M Chevrolet after trying to avoid a spinning Clint Bowyer, remained upbeat and thankful for all of the wonderful memories he had at the Brickyard.

    “Today was an unfortunate day,” Gordon said after finishing 42nd. “It seems like in recent years it’s been kind of feast or famine for us here. But I tell you what, from the first time I came here all the way through last year and even this year the fans have been amazing, the experiences have been amazing, the wins.

    “Everything has been incredible and I feel so fortunate to have just gotten an opportunity to race here. Certainly to have five wins here is just unbelievable as well.”

    Surprising:  The third and fourth place finishers were quite busy falling on their respective swords. Harvick blamed himself for losing the lead and Truex blamed himself for mistiming his pushing efforts, or lack thereof, for Harvick.

    “Yeah, we lost the lead there,” Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Budweiser Chevrolet said. “The No. 18 (Kyle Busch) and No. 22 (Joey Logano) got hooked up on the restart there and got by us in Turn 1. The No. 78 (Martin Truex, Jr.) and I didn’t really get together and weren’t able to keep the lead.

    “Then I lost the lead and Kyle had a faster pace than I wanted to go and spun the tires and then he was able to keep the lead. We lost a couple more spots because we got all jacked up once we started spinning the tires. All-in-all just really proud of everybody on the Jimmy John’s team, I just didn’t put it together there at the end.”

    “Yeah, just feel a little bad for Kevin (Harvick) there,” Truex, driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row/Visser Precision Chevrolet said. “I kind of screwed him. I was trying to push him, just mistimed it.

    “I feel bad I messed him up a bit there. I kind of messed Kyle (Busch) up on the last one too and he still won. I wasn’t getting good starts.”

    Harvick finished third while Truex finished right behind him in the fourth spot.

    Not Surprising:  There were a few unfortunate tire issues at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with both Sam Hornish Jr. and Kurt Busch suffering cut right rear tires early in the race. Both were able to recover, with Hornish rebounding to a 17th place finish and Busch scoring an 8th place run.

    “We ended up flattening the right rear tire,” Hornish, driver of the No. 9 Medallion Bank Ford Fusion, said. “We pitted and we stuck with it. The guys made good changes throughout the day and got our Medallion Bank Ford Fusion up there to 17th.”

    “We chiseled away on each green flag run and each restart, except for the last two,” Busch, driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet said. “And overall, I was pleased with the car’s performance. We were missing a little bit with leaning on the right front tire and not having the car bust loose on me; but overall, the Haas Automation Chevy was a good car.

    “Eighth is a little bit worse than what I thought we would have finished, but we weren’t a winning Chevrolet. All-in-all, these are those types of days that you really have to find something and learn from it and that way you can turn an eighth into a third into a shot to win.”

    Surprising:  No matter the manufacturer, whether Toyota, Chevrolet or Ford, drivers from each of the manufacturers spoke out about the new rules package unveiled at the Brickyard.

    “It just seemed like you couldn’t pass,” Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 Lilly Ford, said. “It was really hard to get up there and get a run on guys. It is difficult to try to get beside guys and it was really, really loose once you caught them. I would say the Kentucky package is way, way better and it put on a way better race than what that did.”

    “It’s terrible, that’s what I think,” Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota, said of the new package. “You just can’t pass. Yeah, you can run up on the straightaway a little bit, but you can’t run through the corner with anything.”

    “It was really bad,” Kyle Larson, behind the wheel of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet said of the aero package. “There was lots of grip by yourself and then as soon as you get within like five car lengths of the guy in front of you, it’s no grip.

    “So, I don’t know. Restarts are intense. But, other than that, it’s pretty bad.”

    Not Surprising:  With a runner-up finish in the XFinity Series and a special paint scheme, the Brickyard was a place full of learning for young driver Ryan Blaney, who finished a respectable 12th.

    “I didn’t really sleep that much last night and I was thinking about turn 2 over and over,” the driver of the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford, said. “I thought about it more than I should. You just learn from your mistakes and focus on today. There were some things that happened yesterday that I applied today and it worked out.”

    “It’s really cool to be part of this JDRF deal,” Blaney continued. “It’s my first year and it’s interesting to learn about type 1 diabetes and good for me to learn about all the kids who have it and battle it. It makes you appreciate things more. It was great to have a good finish for them.”

    Surprising:  While the temps were up, the heat seemed not to play the role or factor that it did in Sunday’s race as opposed to the race on Saturday where drivers were really spent and complaining.

    “It was a hot day but that is what we do,” Brad Keselowski said after finishing 10th in his No. 2 Miller Lite Ford. “That is part of being a race car driver.”

    Not Surprising: In spite of the stellar NASCAR Camping World Truck Series racing at Eldora Speedway last Wednesday, Tony Stewart, who looked like the Smoke of old at the start of the race, could not finish it off the way he wanted.

    The driver of No. 14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet started the race in the fourth position but ended up 28th when the checkered flag flew.

    The Sprint Cup Series will now move on to the mountains in Pennsylvania for the Windows 10 400 race weekend, taking place at Pocono Raceway.

     

  • All Penske front row for Kentucky 300

    All Penske front row for Kentucky 300

    Penske Racing sweeps the front row for Saturday’s Kentucky 300 at Kentucky Speedway. Series points leader, Sam Hornish, secured his third pole of the season with a fast lap of 179.235 mph in the No. 12 Alliance Truck Parts Ford.

    Hornish was followed by his teammate and Camping World Truck Series regular, Ryan Blaney. Blaney turned a lap of 178.159 mph in the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford that has had a multitude of Penske drivers this season. Though Hornish leads the driver’s standings, the No.22 car is currently leading the owner’s standings by 13 points over the No.54 car fielded by Joe Gibbs Racing.

    Richard Childress Racing took row two with drivers Austin Dillon and Brian Scott. Dillon turned in a lap of 178.042 mph and will start third. Scott rolls off fourth on Saturday night after posting a lap of 177.702 mph.

    Another Truck Series regular, Matt Crafton, will start fifth in a third Richard Childress Racing entry. Crafton is returning to the site of his first career Nationwide Series starts where he finished third. Saturday’s race will be the third career Nationwide Series start for the Camping World Truck Series points leader.

    Other notables:

    • Drew Herring will start seventh in the JGR No. 54 that Kyle Busch has driven to ten wins this season.
    • Justin Allgaier will start ninth in the No. 31 Brandt Chevy
    • Brian Vickers will take the green in tenth driving the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota
    • Championship contenders Elliott Sadler and Regan Smith will start 12th and 14th respectively

    Sam Hornish will try to stretch his points lead as we head into the home stretch of the season.

    The Kentucky 300 starts at 7:30pm local time on Saturday.

  • Exciting season continues in the Nationwide Series

    Exciting season continues in the Nationwide Series

    Just a few weeks ago it seemed as if JR Motorsports driver, Regan Smith, had a stranglehold on the championship points standings in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. After a string of 11 top-10 finishes which included two wins, Smith had a very impressive 58 point lead.

    Smith took big hit in the standings at the road course event at Road America where he finished 32nd. The struggles continued the following week at Kentucky finishing 30th. After just two bad weeks, Smith’s lead and dropped from 58 points to a mere eight points over Sam Hornish Jr.

    Smith bounced back at Daytona and Loudon, where he finished eighth in both events and managed to hold on to the points lead. Hornish was once again impressive at Chicago finishing second to Smith’s 13th, and took over the points lead which he had held during the first seven races of the season.

    Along with Smith and Hornish, two more drivers are in the tick of the battle for the championship. Elliott Sadler and Austin Dillon are second and fourth respectively in the standings with Sadler only 13 points back from the leader Hornish, Dillon tied with Smith at only 15 points back.

    Smith’s stats for the season include two wins, five top-5’s and 14 top-10’s. Hornish has an equally impressive record, and may be showing a little more consistency with one win, ten top-5’s, and 17 top-10’s.

    Sadler has had somewhat of an up and down season in the Joe Gibbs Racing No.11 One Main Financial Toyota. In recent weeks, however, he has had some better luck and solid performances with the exception of a run in with Smith at New Hampshire Motor Speedway where Smith got into the back of Sadler late in the race on the final restart. Sadler was running third at the time but fell to 18th after the incident.

    The two exchanged words after the event with Sadler telling Smith, “You will not win this championship, mark my word.”  Last week at Mid-Ohio, it appeared Sadler got revenge on Smith when he turned Smith around in the second half of the race. Sadler did not say of the contact was intentional but Smith commented, “I am going to presume that we’re on an even slate for the rest of the year, though.”

    Sadler currently has eight top-5’s and 14 top-10’s on the season, with no wins, however.

    Richard Childress Racing driver, Austin Dillon, who is widely expected to move up to the Sprint Cup Series next season, had some struggles last week at Mid-Ohio finishing 21st. Some criticized the decision for Dillon to attempt double duty filling in for Tony Stewart at Michigan while in the midst of a championship run. With the two races being at separate venues and weekend schedules overlapping, Dillon elected not to qualify his No. 3 Advocare Chevy and had to start at the rear of the field at a road course where track position is key.

    Supporters pointed out that Dillon’s long term goals is to compete in the Cup series and the experience in a top quality car was worth the sacrifices. Dillon has no wins this season, with seven top-5’s and 13 top-10’s.

    The Food City 250 this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway will provide an excellent arena for the series top drivers to battle. Given the volatile nature of racing at Bristol, and the tight points battle, this weekend’s event could lead to a major shake-up in the standings.

    Among the leaders, Elliott Sadler has the best record in the Nationwide Series at Bristol with 13 starts, two wins, five top-5’s, and six top-10’s in 13 starts. During final practice Sadler was struggling with handling saying he could not get aggressive with the car on the team radio. Sadler commented further when asked about it saying, “If you’re not aggressive at Bristol, you don’t have a chance to win.” At the time Sadler was 22nd fastest in practice.

    We are in the middle of one of the best, most competitive Nationwide Series seasons in recent memory. The talent level in this series is extraordinary. The decision for many of the top teams to enter one driver running the full schedule, the level of excitement has risen drastically.

    The green flag will fall on the Food City 250, Friday Aug 23rd at 7:30pm.

  • Sam Hornish, Jr. Hopes Step Backwards Leads to Big Step Forward

    Sam Hornish, Jr. Hopes Step Backwards Leads to Big Step Forward

    While Sam Hornish Jr. has taken a bit of a step backwards, from racing in the Cup Series last year to now competing in select Nationwide races, he firmly believes that this step back will most surely lead soon to big steps forward.

    [media-credit name=”David Yeazall ” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]Hornish will be back in his Nationwide No. 12 Penske race car this weekend at Richmond International Raceway. He will be sponsored for his fourth start of the Nationwide season, the Bubba Burger 250, by Olympic Paints, a sponsor that was on his car for his best finish to date, a fourth place finish at Pocono a few years ago.

    “I couldn’t be more excited for this weekend’s race at Richmond,” Hornish said. “It’s one of my favorite tracks and I have a lot of success here. I’ve always liked the track.”

    Hornish is also coming off a successful run at Talladega where he led laps and was in the top five most of the day. He finished the Aaron’s 312 NASCAR Nationwide race at Talladega in the 13th spot.

    Yet, in spite of moving forward with the 2011 Nationwide season, Hornish’s step back has not been without its challenges.

    “It’s been rough for us,” Hornish admitted. “All the guys that work on my car have other jobs at the shop. So, we’re a side project a little bit.”

    “It’s not exactly a perfect scenario,” Hornish said. “But sometimes you have to take a step back to take a step forward.”

    “We want to race in the Cup Series but this allows me to keep my foot in the game,” Hornish said of his Nationwide schedule. “We want to give this opportunity to our sponsor to get their feet wet in it and understand where they wanted to be and what they wanted to do. We feel like we’re growing a sponsor and it’s a way to keep myself in the game.”

    In spite of the step back, Hornish truly is embracing the opportunities and the lessons to be learned from it.

    “For me, it gives me the opportunity to work with new people and a new sponsor,” Hornish said. “On the personal side, I’ve had a lot more time to spend with my family. That’s been one of the benefits of this scenario.”

    Hornish also is careful to put his step back this year in perspective, particularly with the difficulties that so many have experienced with the recent storms and tornadoes in the Midwest and Southern parts of the country.

    “It’s obviously an unfortunate situation for a lot of people and we’re definitely thinking of that this weekend,” Hornish said. “I woke up five times throughout the night watching the news and the weather.  It’s unfortunate for sure.”

    He also got a perspective check when he visited injured soldiers at the Hunter Homes McGuire Veterans Administration Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia in preparation for the race weekend.

    “We did a walk through the spinal cord injury unit at the VA and met a lot of nice people,” Hornish said. “It was a good day and it puts a lot of things in perspective.”

    Another benefit of Hornish’s step back is being able to participate in his newest off-track gig, giving voice to Roary the Racing Car, an animated series carried on the PBS Kids Sprout Channel. Roary the Racing Car tracks the adventures of a young race car that resides at the Silver Hatch Racetrack, exploring his relationship with his race car friends and Big Chris, a mechanic who loves karaoke.

    “That’s definitely a fun thing for me to do,” Hornish said. “It’s a once in a lifetime and most guys don’t get to have a part on a TV show. It’s been a lot of fun.”

    Bottom line, however, Hornish yearns to get himself and his season moving forward so that he can position himself for a return to the Cup Series at some point in the very near future.

    “Obviously my goal is to get back into the Cup Series one way or another,” Hornish said. “I don’t just want to start and park.”

    “So, I’m just looking how to do that,” Hornish said. “We’ll just see how things play out.”

    “I feel like the next step forward is just right around the corner for us,” Hornish continued. “With my previous success at Richmond and how well our test went, I’ve got a good feeling about this weekend.”

    “For the fans who are supporting us and giving us wishes and prayers to race more often, I’m hoping we get that job done for them.”