When the gates open at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway each year, as the pagoda looms high and shines bright in the Indiana sun, Sam Hornish Jr. begins to feel right at home.
The Ohio native has logged many miles at the speedway and made many memories. Both on and off the famed speedway, Hornish and Indy just go together. When he climbs aboard his No. 12 Wurth Ford Mustang in the second annual Indiana 250 for the Nationwide Series, the determination and hunger Hornish possess to win at the Brickyard will be unmatched by his competitors.
“I want to go out there and win. This means a lot to me,” Hornish said on Friday about returning to Indianapolis in a stock car for owner Roger Penske.
“I was disappointed, very disappointed after the race last year when we finished second. Everyone said I should be really happy but I said, ‘You guys don’t understand what it means to me and I know you should understand what it means for Roger.’”
Entering as the point leader in the NNS once again, Hornish is upfront about his intentions for the race. On the line is something bigger than one race win, for Hornish this is not just any win at any track. The prestige and butterflies that come with just being on the starting grid for either an IndyCar or NASCAR race still hit him every year.
This is Indy. This is special. And Hornish isn’t sure that he’ll be able to separate kissing the bricks again or padding his point lead.
“It [winning] would be awesome but at the end of the day we have to maintain what is important,” Hornish began by saying. “We have shown how strong we have been and there have been a lot of races this year where we were the only competition for the 22 [teammate Brad Keselowski] and 54 [Kyle Busch], so I think that shows that we are very deserving of winning the championship.”
But he noted, “I love racing here and want to win this race more than anything and at the end of the day [Saturday] if I am in a position with the opportunity I will have to remind myself that we are here to race for points but I don’t know if I will listen.”
Regaining the point lead – one he held during much of the early part of the season – two weeks ago in New Hampshire with a second place finish, Indy is the perfect place for Hornish and team. With only seven points on Regan Smith, the focus is on putting aside past mistakes and building a comfortable lead going forward.
They overcame a more than 50-point deficit in three weeks to climb back on top. With it, their momentum and confidence returned as well.
“I think we have had a good amount of confidence this year. Sometimes maybe a little overconfident in what we were able to do but I feel really god about the way we ran last weekend,” Hornish said.
“Even when we were behind in the points people asked me if I was worried but the way we were running I didn’t think there was any reason we wouldn’t regain the points lead at some point as long as we didn’t have too much bad luck along the way.”
Hornish carries a lone 2013 win into Saturday, from Las Vegas in March, and is one of the four eligible for the final Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus of the season. It’s the race within a race with Austin Dillon, Brian Vickers and Elliott Sadler.
After practice however, Hornish was reserved about the weekend saying, “We do have a lot of momentum going and feel great about what we are doing but this is one of those weekends we aren’t really sure where we were going to be on the competitive scale and we have shown that we have a little bit of work to do yet.”
Perhaps Hornish will have another late race charge, an iconic race-winning move, in him Saturday. After all, this is it for him, there is no greater place. This is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where in 2006 Hornish made his name, while making everyone stand together in awe.
