News

FORT WORTH, Texas (April 3, 2009) - Sam Hornish Jr., driver of the Penske Racing No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger, will line up to start the Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway in the 12th position on Sunday.

No stranger to success at the 1.5-mile quad-oval, Hornish has three victories at Texas Motor Speedway in the IndyCar Series. In Friday’s practice session, Hornish posted a fast lap time of 28.795 seconds at a speed of 187.533 miles per hour placing him 21st fastest overall.

The 19th competitor to make a qualifying attempt, Hornish posted a fast lap time of 28.539 seconds at a speed of 189.215 miles per hour securing the Mobil 1 team the 12th spot on the starting grid. The effort marks Hornish’s best NASCAR starting position at Texas Motor Speedway.

“We were not as fast as we wanted to be or thought we would be in qualifying,” said Hornish. “To be honest, I don’t know what we could do to pick up speed because the Mobil 1 Dodge handles really well and felt good in practice. We’ll take what we can get out of this and move forward. I feel that we have a really strong racecar for Sunday.”

Coverage of the Samsung 500 will air live on the FOX television network beginning at 1:30 p.m. EDT and will also broadcast live on PRN at 1 p.m. EDT.

Driver:   Sam Hornish Jr.
Position:  12
Time:  28.539
Speed:    189.215

Pole:    David Reutimann
Time:    28.344
Speed:    190.517

Penske Racing Teammates:
28. Kurt Busch
32. David Stremme