News

No. 12 Alliance Truck Parts Dodge Team News and Notes

• Sam Hornish Jr., driver of the No. 12 Alliance Truck Parts Dodge Challenger, will make his first start of the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) season Saturday afternoon in the Drive4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway (DIS)

• This will mark Hornish's third NNS start at DIS. He has made six previous NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) starts at DIS with his best result coming in 2008 when he finished 15th.

• This weekend's race will mark Hornish's return to full-time competition as we will race for the 2012 Nationwide Series title this season.

• From 2006 to present, Hornish has made a total of 33 NNS starts. He has scored one victory, two top-five and six top-10 finishes during that time and has also captured five top-five and 11 top-10 starting positions while competing in a limited NNS schedule over the last five plus seasons.

• This weekend will mark the 14th race 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 the No. 12 team to top-six championship finishes in 2009 & 2010.

• Hornish will appear at the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil merchandise unit on Friday, February 24 from 12:00 - 12:30 p.m. ET. He will also appear at the Daytona Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram dealership located at 1450 N. Tomoka Farms Rd. Daytona Beach, FL 32114 from 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. on Friday.

• Hornish will also appear at the Dodge Display in the DIS Midway from 10:20-10:50 a.m. on Saturday, February 25.

• Follow Sam at @SamHornish, @PenskeRacing and at www.samhornish.com

Sam Hornish Jr.'s comments on this weekend's Drive4COPD
"We are excited to get back in the car and back to racing full-time in the Nationwide Series this year. We built a strong foundation with No. 12 Alliance Truck Parts Dodge team last season, which was galvanized with our big win at Phoenix. This year is shaping up to be something really special and starting the season here in Daytona is great. It's one of my favorite places because you never know who is going to win until the very last lap."

Crew Chief Chad Walter's comments on this weekend's Drive4COPD
"It feels really good heading into Daytona knowing that we are running full-time this season. Sam and I have been making great strides in understanding one another in terms of what the car needs and that is a nice place to start from this year. Our No. 12 Dodge team will really benefit from the consistency and rhythm of the full schedule and we are very pleased to have Alliance Truck Parts on the car this year."