No. 12 Alliance Truck Parts Dodge Preview-Top Gear 300
May 25, 2011
• Sam Hornish Jr., driver of the No. 12 Alliance Truck Parts Dodge Challenger, will make his fifth start of the 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) season this Saturday afternoon in the Top Gear 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway
• From 2006 to 2010, Hornish has made a total of 20 Nationwide Series starts. Scoring five top-15 finishes. Hornish has also captured one top-five, three top-10 and eight and eight top-15 starting positions while competing in a limited NNS schedule over the last five years
• This weekend marks the fifth outing together for Hornish and crew chief, Chad Walter, who called the shots for the No. 12 Penske Racing Nationwide Series team in the past and helped guide driver Justin Allgaier to a top-six championship finishes in each of the last two seasons
• Hornish heads to Charlotte with good momentum after starting second and finishing seventh in the NNS race at Richmond International Raceway on April 29
• This will be Hornish's second NNS race at Charlotte Motor Speedway and his seventh start at this track overall. Hornish last ran a NNS race here in the spring of 2008
• Hornish will be very busy during the week leading up to the Top Gear 300. He will be participating in the following events throughout the week...
o The 3rd Annual "King's Cup - Karting for a Cause" on Tuesday, May 24 at the Victory Lane Indoor Karting Center in Charlotte, NC
o An autograph session featuring other NASCAR Series drivers on Wednesday, May 25 at the NASCAR Hall of Fame from 10-11 am ET
o Signing autographs at the Alliance Truck Parts Mobile Display area during Speed Street (located at 3rd and Tryon) on Friday, May 27th from 2-4pm
Sam Hornish Jr.'s comments on this weekend's Top Gear 300
"Charlotte is one of my favorite racetracks for many reasons, but mostly because of all the fond memories I have from racing on the kart track in the infield of turn three. I am excited to get back with the No. 12 Penske Racing team. I know that they have been working hard during these last few weeks that we have had off. I'm looking forward to making some new memories this Memorial Day weekend and having a great run in our Alliance Truck Parts Dodge Challenger."
Crew Chief Chad Walter's comments on this weekend's Top Gear 300
"As always, the No. 12 Alliance Truck Parts team has been looking forward to getting back on track; this time at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Charlotte is one of the premier events for the Nationwide Series, as it is considered the ‘home' race for many of the teams. Sam seems to really to have a knack for the mile and a half tracks and I feel very confident he will be amongst the front runners and challenge for the win."