News

Sam Hornish Jr.
No. 77 Penske Truck Rental Dodge Charger
Camping World RV 400 presented by Coleman
Kansas Speedway
September 28, 2008

News and Notes
• Sam Hornish Jr., driver of the Penske Racing No. 77 Penske Truck Rental Dodge Charger, will make his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut this weekend at Kansas Speedway. No stranger to the 1.5-mile D-shaped oval, Hornish has a total of seven IndyCar Series starts at Kansas Speedway with an impressive record of one win (2006), three top-five and five top-10 finishes.
• Hornish is currently in second place in the 2008 Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings. He trails leader Regan Smith by three points and leads third place driver Patrick Carpentier by six points.
• Hornish and the No. 77 team are currently 37th in the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series owner points standings following the race at Dover International Speedway.
• Hornish makes his animation and preschool television debut as the voice of the narrator in the new series Roary the Racing Car which will premiere on Sprout on Monday, October 13, 2008. The show follows the adventures of Roary™, a bright, loveable and energetic single-seat race car, and his amazing and diverse group of race car friends at the Silver Hatch race track.

Upcoming Events
9/28/08: Hornish will be on hand to sign autographs at his souvenir trailer on Sunday from 9:15 to 9:45 a.m.
10/30/08: Hornish will host the fourth annual Sam Hornish Jr. Celebrity Bowling Tournament during the NASCAR Sprint Cup race weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. Over the past three years, the tournament has raised $307,000 to benefit the Texas chapter of Speedway Children’s Charities.

Chassis Chatter
PRS-571: The primary car for the Penske Truck Rental team this weekend was raced by Hornish earlier this season at Pocono Raceway (June) and Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
PRS-568: The backup race car for this weekend was the primary car for Hornish earlier this season at Lowe’s Motor Speedway where he captured a season-best 13th place finish in a points event.

Sam Hornish Jr. on Kansas Speedway
“I’ve had a lot of success at Kansas Speedway in the IndyCar Series. It’s a place where I have always enjoyed racing and hope to achieve similar success in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

“As the season begins to wind down, I’m glad that we are returning to intermediate tracks over the coming weeks. This No. 77 team has done well at 1.5-mile tracks this year and I tend to run better at the larger tracks. We are excited about the coming weeks and are intent to regain position in the top-35 in the 2008 owner points standings.”

Crew Chief Travis Geisler on Kansas Speedway
“Kansas is one of the few tracks that we only run once a year and is the only track left that Sam has not been to in a Sprint Cup Series car.

“Fortunately, he has been to the track with the IndyCar Series, and he has had much success there. Kansas Speedway has a lot of similarities to other intermediate tracks and the No. 77 team has had strong runs this season at 1.5-mile tracks. I look forward to a good run this weekend with the Penske Truck Leasing Dodge.”

2008 Rookie-of-the-Year Standings
Position  Driver                 Points
1.          Regan Smith         187
2.          Sam Hornish Jr.     184
3.          Patrick Carpentier  178
4.          Michael McDowell    168
5.          Dario Franchitti        97