Sam Hornish Jr. to Start 26th at Martinsville Speedway
March 28, 2008
MARTINSVILLE, Va. (March 28, 2008) – Sam Hornish Jr., driver of the Penske Racing No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger, will start the Goody’s Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday in the 26th position.
The Mobil 1 team focused on both race and qualifying runs during practice on Friday afternoon. Poised to make his first start at Martinsville, Hornish Jr. posted a fast lap time of 20.009 seconds at a speed of 94.637 miles per hour during qualifying. The effort earned both driver and team a 26th-place starting position on Sunday.
“Martinsville Speedway is one of my favorite places so far,” said Hornish Jr. "The Mobil 1 Dodge was pretty good in practice and was really good on the first lap in qualifying. We made a lot of changes between practice and qualifying and definitely improved the car. I got back into the throttle a little too soon on the second lap and it probably cost us some spots on the starting grid. We will try and make them up on Sunday.”
The Goody’s Cool Orange 500 will air live on FOX on Sunday, March 30, 2008 beginning at 1:30 p.m. EDT. The race will also be broadcast live on MRN beginning at 2:00 p.m. EDT.
Driver: Sam Hornish Jr.
Position: 26
Speed: 94.637
Time: 20.009
Pole: Jeff Gordon
Speed: 96.288
Time: 19.666