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[/media-credit]SAM HORNISH JR. CLAIMS FIRST TOP-FIVE FINISH OF ’12 SEASON AT RIR
RICHMOND, Va. (Friday, April 27, 2012) – Sam Hornish Jr. finished fifth in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race Friday night at Richmond International Raceway and wasn’t bashful about the main reason why.
“The biggest thing I take out of tonight is we had an awesome night in the pits,” Hornish said. “The guys did a great job and got us positions every time. I’d rather be a little bit off with our car and be great in the pits than be really good with our car and be off in the pits because they can gain you so much, especially at these short tracks. Those guys were really up on it today.”
Crew chief Chad Walter also wasn’t shy about giving his opinion about the performance of the No. 12 Wurth Dodge Challenger crew on pit road.
“I told ‘em right after the race, hands down, they were the class of the field,” Walter said. “I don’t know what our slowest stop was, but it was plenty quick. That makes it easier to manage and not abuse your equipment. That’s what it’s all about.”
Hornish wasn’t too shabby himself. He drove a smooth and steady race and never fell outside the top 10 during the entire 250-lap event. The end result was his third career top five. He remains fourth in the series championship standings, 53 points behind leader Elliott Sadler.
Brad Keselowski had an uncharacteristically off-night. Keselowski ran outside the top 10 for much of the race and struggled home with a 16th-place finish in the No. 22 Discount Tire/SKF Dodge Challenger. Late in the race crew chief Jeremy Bullins kept Keselowski on the track during the final round of green flag pit stops, hoping for a timely caution to put them back in contention. The caution never came.
“We just missed it tonight with the Discount Tire Dodge,” Keselowski said. “Not really sure where, but that’s why there’s 30-some of these races so you can keep plugging away and get wins when you get it right. I think we had a really good car at Texas and Vegas and a shot at winning there and just didn’t finish out the day, had some issues. And then we come here and we don’t have a very good car. We didn’t have any issues; we just weren’t good (smiles). That’s just the way that racing works sometimes. We’ll get it right.”
Kurt Busch won the Virginia 529 College Savings 250, edging Denny Hamlin by a fender (officially measured at .062 second). Busch gave his younger brother Kyle his first Nationwide Series victory as a car owner. The race featured 13 lead changes among six drivers and was slowed by just three cautions for 20 laps.
Race Results NASCAR Nationwide Series Virginia 529 College Savings 250 Richmond International Raceway April 27, 2012 1. Kurt Busch 2. Denny Hamlin 3. Kevin Harvick 4. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 5. SAM HORNISH JR. 6. Elliott Sadler 7. Ryan Blaney 8. Michael Annett 9. Austin Dillon 10. Kasey Kahne 16. BRAD KESELOWSKI
NASCAR Nationwide Series Point Standings (After 7 of 33 races) 1. Elliott Sadler 285 2. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -2 3. Austin Dillon -23 4. SAM HORNISH JR. -53 5. Michael Annett -65 6. Cole Whitt -78 7. Justin Allgaier -93 8. Tayler Malsam -103 9. Trevor Bayne -105 10. Mike Bliss -111
