No. 12 Detroit Genuine Parts Dodge Iowa Preview
May 15, 2012
• Sam Hornish Jr., driver of the Penske Racing No. 12 Detroit Genuine Parts Dodge Challenger, will make his 10th start of the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) season Sunday afternoon in the Pioneer Hi-Bred 250 at Iowa Speedway.
• Hornish's return to Iowa Speedway represents his third start at the venue. He has one NNS and one Izod IndyCar Series start at the venue.
• This will mark Hornish's second Nationwide Series start at Iowa. In 2011 he started third and finished 24th while substituting for an injured Brad Keselowski.
• From 2006 to present, Hornish has made a total of 42 NNS starts. He has scored one victory, four top-five and 10 top-10 finishes.
• After nine races, Hornish and the Detroit Genuine Parts Dodge team are fourth in the NNS Championship point standings.
• This weekend the No. 12 Detroit Genuine Parts Dodge Challenger will race chassis PRS -226 which last saw action at the recent Bristol race.
• Fun fact - Sam restored his father's first bicycle - a 1950 Schwinn Red Phantom and gave it to him for Christmas 2010.
• Nationwide Insurance offers a feature called Race Buddy which allows you to monitor the Detroit Genuine Parts Dodge during the race. It can be accessed at www.nascarnationwideseries.com under the Featured tab.
• Penske Racing has 356 all-time race victories with 102 stock car wins and 417 pole positions overall including 129 NASCAR poles.
• Tune in to SpeedTV on Sunday, May 20 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 and Sam Hornish, Jr. Facebook pages - www.facebook.com/penskeracing and www.facebook.com/pages/Sam-Hornish-Jr
Sam Hornish Jr. comments about this weekend's Pioneer Hi-Bred 250
"Iowa is a great facility and fun place to race. The track itself, while being short offers drivers a couple different lines. The Iowa fans are awesome as it is always fun for us drivers to look out and see the grandstands full of people. We are running the Detroit Genuine Parts Dodge Challenger, which is pretty exciting for us and it is a paint scheme that really stands out. Our Penske Dodge team has been steadily improving over the course of the season and we are feeling good about our chances in Iowa."
Crew Chief Chad Walter comments about this weekend's Pioneer Hi-Bred 250
"Since its addition to the NNS schedule, Iowa is one of the races that all the competitors look forward to going to. It is a short oval that tends to drive more like an intermediate, with sweeping corners and two grooves to race on. Sam had a decent run going last season, until a mechanical issue sidelined his effort, while driving the #22 Discount Tire Dodge. The "Genuine Detroit Parts" car is fantastic looking, and we can't wait to show it off to the fans. With the gains we have made over the past few weeks, we again look forward to another positive weekend of racing."