Sam Hornish Jr. is a relative new comer to the Sprint Cup series of NASCAR. He has had a prolific past in the IRL series and comes to the Sprint Cup series with almost no experience at the top level.
Sam started his Indy Racing League Career after years of Karting championships and trophies in his early racing days. In 2000, he made his debut in the Indy Racing League. He immediately won the Rookie of the Year honours with some breathtaking performances. The writing was on the wall as he came back the next year and won three races on his way to his first ever Indy Racing League championships. He won five races in 2002 on his way to a second consecutive championship and just when it seemed that he might be unstoppable, he had a slump in form.
Born | 24 Jul 1979 |
Nationality | United States |
He didn’t make any waves from 2003 to 2005 as all his efforts seemed to end up either in retirements, or in poor finishes. But he kept working at things and in 2006 he got his groove back with his third Indy Racing League win. He became the only driver in history to get three championship titles at the Indy Racing League level.
Sam got his first taste of NASCAR as he took part in 2 Nationwide Series events in 2006. In 2007, he took part in 9 races in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and also took part in two Sprint Cup Series races in 2007. A 30th and 37th place finish were all he could manage in his two races. In 2008, he would be looking at a longer and more fruitful run in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series and if he can mimic his IRL form here, then he can rest assured that he would be able to produce some respectable performances.