Sam Hornish Jr Rallies To Finish Seventh at Richmond
April 30, 2011
Photo Courtesy of Autostock
RICHMOND, Va. (April 30, 2011) - Sam Hornish Jr, driver of the No. 12 Olympic Paints Dodge Challenger, finished seventh Friday in the Bubba Burger 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race at Richmond International Raceway. The event marked the fourth NNS race of the 2011 season for Hornish and his first start in the Olympic Paints colors.
Hornish started the race from the second position after posting a qualifying time of 21.627 seconds, or124.844 miles per hour, during Friday's qualifying session. The No. 12 Dodge Challenger started the race strong and he remained in the top 4 for the first twenty laps of the race.
With the first 124 laps of the race being ran under the green flag, crew chief Chad Walter, brought the No. 12 Dodge Challenger down pit road on lap 95 for a green flag pit stop which included changing all four Goodyear tires and filling the car up with two cans of fuel. Lap 106 brought on a vibration which Hornish was unable to determine what area of the car it was coming from. Walter prepared the No. 12 crew to come down pit road again for another four tire stop, but opted to stay out instead and ride out the vibration.
On lap 119, Hornish found himself one lap down battling for the "Lucky Dog" award with Steven Wallace, driver of the No. 66 Toyota. When the first caution flag flew on lap 124, Hornish piloted the No. 12 Penske Racing Dodge down pit road where the team went to work on the vibration. The team changed all four tires and made adjustments to the wedge and track bar.
After this course of pit stops, Hornish found himself still fighting to get back to lead lap racing. For the next 40 laps, Hornish fought hard to gain back track position and on lap 227, he passed leader, Denny Hamlin to gain one of his laps back.
The final caution flag of the day flew at lap 242 to set up a "green-white-checkered" finish with only six cars on the lead lap. Just after taking the white flag, the caution flag flew once again leaving Hamlin the race winner and the No. 12 Olympic Paints Dodge Challenger coming home in seventh place.
"I'm really happy that we could bring home the No. 12 Olympic Paints Dodge Challenger home in seventh position after struggling for a majority of the race," said Hornish. "It was not the finish that we were looking for today but we'll take a top ten finish. It was great getting to start on the front row in the Olympic Paints Dodge but the beginning of the race was just too long and we didn't get the chance to make the adjustments that we needed. We fought hard all race long and the crew did a great job when it came to the pit stops. The car really looked great and I'm happy that we could bring it home in one piece and didn't scratch it up too bad there at the end."
Hornish will next compete in the No. 12 Alliance Truck Parts Dodge at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 28 in the Top Gear 300. Coverage will begin at 2:30 pm EST on ABC. The race will also be heard on the Performance Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio Channel 128.
Hornish started the race from the second position after posting a qualifying time of 21.627 seconds, or124.844 miles per hour, during Friday's qualifying session. The No. 12 Dodge Challenger started the race strong and he remained in the top 4 for the first twenty laps of the race.
With the first 124 laps of the race being ran under the green flag, crew chief Chad Walter, brought the No. 12 Dodge Challenger down pit road on lap 95 for a green flag pit stop which included changing all four Goodyear tires and filling the car up with two cans of fuel. Lap 106 brought on a vibration which Hornish was unable to determine what area of the car it was coming from. Walter prepared the No. 12 crew to come down pit road again for another four tire stop, but opted to stay out instead and ride out the vibration.
On lap 119, Hornish found himself one lap down battling for the "Lucky Dog" award with Steven Wallace, driver of the No. 66 Toyota. When the first caution flag flew on lap 124, Hornish piloted the No. 12 Penske Racing Dodge down pit road where the team went to work on the vibration. The team changed all four tires and made adjustments to the wedge and track bar.
After this course of pit stops, Hornish found himself still fighting to get back to lead lap racing. For the next 40 laps, Hornish fought hard to gain back track position and on lap 227, he passed leader, Denny Hamlin to gain one of his laps back.
The final caution flag of the day flew at lap 242 to set up a "green-white-checkered" finish with only six cars on the lead lap. Just after taking the white flag, the caution flag flew once again leaving Hamlin the race winner and the No. 12 Olympic Paints Dodge Challenger coming home in seventh place.
"I'm really happy that we could bring home the No. 12 Olympic Paints Dodge Challenger home in seventh position after struggling for a majority of the race," said Hornish. "It was not the finish that we were looking for today but we'll take a top ten finish. It was great getting to start on the front row in the Olympic Paints Dodge but the beginning of the race was just too long and we didn't get the chance to make the adjustments that we needed. We fought hard all race long and the crew did a great job when it came to the pit stops. The car really looked great and I'm happy that we could bring it home in one piece and didn't scratch it up too bad there at the end."
Hornish will next compete in the No. 12 Alliance Truck Parts Dodge at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 28 in the Top Gear 300. Coverage will begin at 2:30 pm EST on ABC. The race will also be heard on the Performance Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio Channel 128.