Hornish hopes to expand schedule
Monday, Jan. 24, 2011
MOORESVILLE, N.C. – Sam Hornish Jr. said Monday he hopes to run a minimum of 11 Nationwide Series races this season for Penske Racing.
Hornish said a lack of sponsorship forced Penske to drop his Sprint Cup Series ride. A deal with Alliance Truck Parts gave Hornish enough funding for eight Nationwide races, and the team will try to add more as the season goes on.
"I'm looking forward to getting to run the minimum of 11 races in the Nationwide series, build our brand and maybe bring some new sponsorship to the team," Hornish said. "We're taking baby steps to back to where we want to be, where I want to be, in the Cup Series."
“It’s a perfect storm of imperfect events for me,” Hornish Jr. said Friday at Daytona International Speedway. “No one is expanding and everyone is trying to hold on for what they can right now.
"Last year, when we’re up against guys like Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart for sponsorships, you’ve got a four-time and two-time champion, you can’t blame any sponsor for wanting to get on their car versus ours.”
Hornish spent the last three years racing full-time in the Sprint Cup Series. He has eight top-10 finishes, and a career-best finish of 28th in the points.
Hornish won three championships in the IndyCar Series and the 2006 Indianapolis 500. He moved to NASCAR after the 2007 season.
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