Ford Racing NNS Notes & Quotes:
Ford EcoBoost 300 Advance (Homestead-Miami Speedway)
Friday, November 15, 2013
Sam Hornish Jr., driver of the No. 12 Alliance Truck Parts Ford Mustang, brushed the wall in practice this morning. He spoke to members of the media about the incident, along with his reaction to the retirement of Dario Franchitti.
SAM HORNISH JR. – No. 12 Alliance Truck Parts Ford Mustang – WHAT HAPPENED ON THE TRACK THIS MORNING? “With the overcast sky and cooler temperatures, it’s something that we don’t really get a chance to run that way very often here because usually the sun breaks through and it heats everything up and it makes it slick. So we were running in the like the 32.50-second range and anytime we get up there by the outside wall we’re probably gonna be running in the 33 plus-second range. The car bottomed out over the bumps and just took the front tires off the ground and there was no turning it, so we decided that we had to try to run the top a little bit, but I guess I wasn’t planning on it to do that.”
IT WASN’T HURT BAD, WAS IT? “No, the only issue with getting in the wall at all in practice is that if anything happens to break during the race everybody’s first opinion will be because something happened in practice.”
WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION TO DARIO FRANCHITTI’S NEWS YESTERDAY? “I had a pretty good feeling that that might be something that was gonna happen after seeing that accident and not seeing Dario do any interviews or anything since then. It’s obviously very sad. Dario and I raced each other really hard and after he won the Indianapolis 500 in 2007 we actually talked and hung out a little bit and had a pretty good time and began to have a little bit of a friendship or whatever you want to call it. It’s really disappointing. It’s obviously not the way any of us want to see people that we liked racing against and like as people to have their career end the way that his did and not to be able to do it the way he would have wanted, but I guess it’s also better than what the worst-case scenario would be as well.”
DO YOU THINK IT WILL BE NEAT TO SEE HIM FIND A ROLE IN THE INDY CAR SERIES? “It’s awesome that his goal is to be in the sport in some capacity. Running for 15 seasons over there and to be able to accomplish what he has, I think that really shows how interested he is in the Indy Car world and he’s a great ambassador for sure.”
