News

SAM HORNISH JR.
No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger  
Atlanta Motor Speedway – Emory Healthcare 500 
September 5, 2010

Mobil 1 Team News and Notes
• Sam Hornish Jr., driver of the Penske Racing No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger, was in the midst of a strong run during the spring race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, as he posted fast lap times and ran inside the top -10 before he reported an engine issue with just under 100 laps to go. With a noticeable loss of power, Hornish dropped quickly in the running order and the No. 77 team worked to salvage the best finish possible under the circumstances. Hornish ultimately finished the race in 28th place.
• At NASCAR intermediate-track venues, Hornish has earned one top-10, four top-five and 11 top-15 finishes across Cup and Nationwide Series competition. His best NASCAR finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway came in March of 2007, when he finished 15th in the Nationwide Series event at the 1.54-mile quad-oval. In addition, Hornish has one IndyCar Series start at Atlanta as he scored a fourth-place finish in 2001.
• Each week Mobil 1 crew chief Travis Geisler offers fans a glimpse into car setup for each racetrack on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit at washingtonpost.com. Geisler reports that at Atlanta, lap times drop a whopping 2-3 seconds from the first lap with new tires to the last. Most teams pit during each caution and take four tires at every stop. Crew chiefs tend to start out with a fairly tight setup because cars get looser later as tires lose grip. Learn more at http://bit.ly/b48ad6.
• Hornish will be on hand to sign autographs at the Penske Racing souvenir trailer at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, September 5 from 4:15 – 4:45 p.m. EDT.

Sam Hornish Jr. Quotes
How do you feel the spoiler will affect teams at this weekend’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway?
“When you go to Atlanta, you always worry about beating up your tires and the cars have been generally a lot tighter with the change to the spoiler. So for this race, you've really got to take care of your tires so that you can run well at the end of a long run. We were really, really good on the long runs in the spring race so we are looking forward to getting back to Atlanta this weekend.”

With teammate Kurt Busch close to securing a spot in the championship chase, do you try to help him achieve that goal?
 “We're always trying to help each other out across the board at Penske Racing. There's no point in the season where we all go our own way. If we ever feel that as a team we don't have what we need, we’ll work on different things individually to figure out how to get there together.”

Crew Chief Travis Geisler Quote
What are your thoughts on this weekend’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway?
“After a weekend off, the Mobil 1 Dodge team is ready to get back into action at Atlanta Motor Speedway. We had a very good car for the first race there this season, but we had mechanical issues late which hurt our result.  We are taking the same chassis back and we look forward to finishing what we started in March. Atlanta is a great track because of the various lines drivers can use, which makes passing pretty easy if you have a good car.”