News

SAM HORNISH JR.
No. 77 AAA Dodge Charger
Texas Motor Speedway – AAA Texas 500
November 7, 2010

AAA Team News and Notes
• Sam Hornish Jr., driver of the Penske Racing No. 77 AAA Dodge Charger, finished 19th in the spring race at Texas Motor Speedway after qualifying a Cup Series career-best second for the 500-mile event. Hornish was able to overcome a tight-handling condition on the race car and a mid-race spin to secure his second top-20 finish in Cup Series competition at Texas Motor Speedway.
• In his NASCAR career, Hornish has three top-20 finishes at Texas Motor Speedway. In addition, Hornish has three victories and seven top-five results at the 1.5-mile quad-oval in IndyCar Series competition.
• Hornish will host the sixth annual AutoTrader.com Sam Hornish Jr. Celebrity Bowling Tournament presented by Main Event on Thursday, Nov. 4, 2010. The tournament is open to the public and it will take place at Main Event Entertainment in Grapevine, Texas. To date, the tournament has raised over $525,000 for the Texas chapter of Speedway Children’s Charities. Find more information at http://bit.ly/dt1riL.
• Hornish will be on hand to sign autographs at the Penske Racing souvenir trailer at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, Nov. 7 at 9:30 a.m. CST. Hornish will also appear at the AAA display in the fan midway on Sunday at 10 a.m. CST where he will help conclude AAA’s ”The Great Tailgate Giveaway” promotion as one lucky winner will receive a Dodge Ram truck.

Sam Hornish Jr. Quote
What are thoughts as you host your upcoming celebrity bowling tournament for the sixth year?
“This is the sixth year for our bowling tournament and we've been really fortunate to raise over half a million dollars for the Texas chapter of Speedway Children's Charities. When we come to town to race, we have around 100,000 people come out to support us. I feel this is one way that we are able to give back and support the community. I really enjoy it. I like bowling. I've always felt like you need to be active in your community. As drivers, we've been given so much and this is a great way that we can give back.”

What are thoughts for this weekend’s AAA Texas 500?
“Texas Motor Speedway is not a normal cookie-cutter track; it’s similar to Atlanta Motor Speedway where the cars slide around on the older surface. The 1.5-mile tracks have been good to me since coming to NASCAR and I’ve had a lot of success at Texas in the IndyCar Series. It would be great to have a strong run this weekend for our friends at AAA.”

Crew Chief Travis Geisler Quote
What are your thoughts on this weekend’s race at Texas Motor Speedway?
“The No. 77 AAA team is looking forward to heading back to Texas Motor Speedway for a couple reasons. We missed the pole by .01-of-a-second in the spring race, so we hope to better that effort by one spot and earn our first pole award. We are also excited about participating in the Sam Hornish Jr. Celebrity Bowling Tournament.  It is a fun event that raises money for the Speedway Children’s Charities, which is a great organization. We have focused on trying some new things for this race to learn for next season, and we hope to give Sam a car that can run up front all day.”