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 fifth start of the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) season Saturday afternoon in the Royal Purple 300 at Auto Club Speedway (ACS).
• Hornish's return to ACS marks his first time back to the track since 2010 when he competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS).
• This will mark Hornish's second Nationwide Series start at ACS. He has six NSCS starts at ACS and four IICS starts which include two victories at the venue (2002 & 2003).
• From 2006 to present, Hornish has made a total of 37 NNS starts. He has scored one victory, two top-five and eight top-10 finishes during that time and has also captured five top-five and 12 top-10 starting positions in NNS competition.
• After four races Hornish and the Alliance Truck Parts team are sixth in the NNS Championship point standings.
• When Hornish won the 2003 IICS race he set the record for the fastest closed-circuit race ever in motorsport history, with an average speed of 207.151 mph over 400 miles.
• This weekend the No. 12 Alliance Truck Parts Dodge Challenger will race with chassis 221. This is a new chassis to the No. 12 fleet, but it comes from No. 22 team. Brad Keselowski drove it to victory last year at Kentucky Speedway.
• Alliance Truck Parts is featuring a Fantasy Racing League that offers fans the chance to win cash and prizes, register at http://www.allianceracingleague.com/.
• Penske Racing has 351 all-time race victories with 101 stock car wins and 412 pole positions overall including 128 NASCAR poles.
• Tune in to SpeedTV on Sunday, March 25 to see Hornish as he continues in his first season as an analyst on SPEED Center.
• Follow Hornish at @PenskeRacing, @SamHornish, www.penskeracing.com, www.samhornish.com and the Penske Racing Facebook page - www.facebook.com/penskeracing.

Sam Hornish Jr. comments about this weekend's Royal Purple 300
"I haven't raced at Auto Club Speedway for over two years, but I did a tire test there last year and that should be beneficial. I have always liked this place in both Cup and IndyCar, and I have had some success there as well, including winning a race with the closed-course average speed record, which is pretty cool. I think this will be a great place for the Alliance Truck Parts Dodge to rebound from not running as well as we would like in the last couple of outings, so I am looking forward to this race."

Crew Chief Chad Walter comments about this weekend's Royal Purple 300
"When I think about Auto Club Speedway I think of horsepower. It's a fast place and with the new left side tire we have I think we will see a lot of speed out our Alliance Truck Parts Dodge at this event. It is a great track, there are a lot of different lines for the driver to choose from and Sam knows his way around this track. Drafting is going to be important here as well and once again Sam is very good at that. This is the perfect place for us to put up a strong effort and garner a great result."