Sam Hornish Jr.
No. 12 Alliance Truck Parts Dodge Challenger
Aaron’s 312 Talladega Superspeedway – Talladega, AL
May 5, 2012 TV- ABC @ 3:00 p.m. ET; Radio – MRN/Sirius 90
No. 12 Alliance Truck Parts Dodge Team News and Notes
Sam Hornish Jr., driver of the Penske Racing No. 12 Alliance Truck Parts Dodge Challenger, will make his eighth start of the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) season Saturday afternoon in the Aaron’s 312 at Talladega Superspeedway.
This race marks the return of Alliance Truck Parts as the primary sponsor of the No. 12 Dodge Challenger.
Hornish’s return to Talladega represents his seventh start at the venue. He has six NSCS starts at the venue with his best start a fourth in 2009 and his best finish a 15th in 2010.
This will mark Hornish’s second Nationwide Series start at Talladega. Last year he started 12th and finished 13th in the Aaron’s 312.
From 2006 to present, Hornish has made a total of 40 NNS starts. He has scored one victory, three top-five and nine top-10 finishes, while also claiming five top-five and 12 top-10 starting positions during that time.
After seven races Hornish and the Alliance Truck Parts Dodge team are fourth in the NNS Championship point standings.
This weekend the No. 12 Alliance Truck Parts Dodge Challenger will race with chassis PRS-203 which Sam raced to a 20th-place finish at Daytona in February.
Dodge will debut the new “Dealership Display” property during the NASCAR weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, May 4 – 6. The “Dealership Display” is a climate-controlled quiet area where product specialists can have in-depth conversations with consumers and distribute brand literature on their vehicle of choice. It’s also a great place to conduct a meet and greet with Dodge driver Sam Hornish, Jr.
Fans will have three opportunities to meet Sam this weekend. The first is Friday, May 4 from 1:30-2:30 p.m. at the NNS Autograph Session at Talladega. The second is at the Dodge Display Saturday, May 5 from 9:10-9:25 a.m. and the third is at the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil merchandise unit from 9:30-10:00 a.m.
Fun fact – Sam is in the final phases of building an elaborate tree-house for his daughters, Addison and Eliza
Penske Racing has 355 all-time race victories with 101 stock car wins and 417 pole positions overall including 129 NASCAR poles.
Tune in to SpeedTV on Sunday, May 6 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 Aaron’s 312
“Talladega is an awesome place; I love it because you’re flat out all the way around. It is one of those places where you need to have some luck and you need to have some friends. The draft makes it very interesting and you just have to take care of your car and hope for the best. We are going into this race with good momentum and a fast Alliance Truck Parts Dodge. Our Penske pit crew is really hitting stride so we are looking forward to this one.”
Crew Chief Chad Walter comments about this weekend’s Aaron’s 312
“Talladega is a hard venue to prepare for as there is always a little “unknown” heading into the weekend. This time around we are working with a new set of rules that NASCAR has delivered to us affecting the aerodynamics and thecooling properties of the cars. Penske Engines are known for top HP at Superspeedways and we are looking forward to that “Unfair Advantage”. Sam has proven his capabilities in the draft and we have a great teammate to work with in Brad Keselowski. We feel confident that we have prepared an Alliance Truck Parts Dodge Challengerthat is up to the task of winning at Talladega.”
