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First season in NASCAR

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By TIM McDONOUGH

mcdonough@crescent-news.com

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- NASCAR Sprint Cup rookie Sam Hornish Jr. will find himself in familiar territory today when he hits the track at Michigan International Speedway for the 3M Performance 400.

After eight very successful years as an open-wheel driver in the IndyCar Series that included 19 victories, three championships and a win at the 2006 Indy 500, Hornish made the move this season from the IRL to NASCAR.

Since the end of his last season, Hornish has become a father for the first time to daughter Addison Faith, has taken on a much longer race schedule in the Sprint Cup Series, split his time between Ohio and North Carolina where he also has a home, and been involved with his charity work and his many sponsor appearances while trying to balance family life.

With just 14 races left on the Sprint Cup schedule in 2008, Hornish finds himself 33rd in driver points and 34th in owner points after 22 races. Hornish will start today's race at MIS in 23rd after qualifying his No. 77, Penske Racing, Mobil 1 Dodge at 184.649 miles per hour.

It certainly has been a season of ups and down for Hornish who is trying to get ahead of the learning curve of driving a stock car. From finishing 13th at the Coca-Cola 600 and 15th at the Daytona 500, to finishing 43rd at California, the Defiance native has taken it all in stride, while learning as much as he can, as quickly as he can while keeping his foot to the floor.

The following is a question & answer session with Hornish, who talks about his first year in the Sprint Cup Series, how his life has changed and what his future holds.

Q: Back at Michigan for the second time this season, how does it feel to be so close to home again?

A: It's great, I really enjoying coming to Michigan and I have a lot of memories here of coming to races when I was a kid, as well as racing here. Of course it's a bonus that it is so close to home, but even bigger than that it's a place we ran well at in June (Hornish finished 22nd).

We feel pretty good coming back, especially after practice today (Friday) where we ran 14th. Back in June I think we were 36th fastest after practice so it feels good to be moving forward. We're not going to be happy until we're P1 (position 1), but I can tell you that we all feel a lot more comfortable being here the second time around.

Q: This far into your first full Sprint Cup season, how would you grade yourself and your team?

A: I'm pretty tough on myself so I guess I would give me a C-minus. I think that there have been a lot of places where we could have really shined, and there's been some moments where I've made mistakes and haven't picked up on some of things more quickly than I need to.

As far as the team goes, I think that grade is a solid B. There's always things that could be done better. Sometimes it just comes down to understanding what the other person is saying and doing that may have made us a little bit better. It's so hard because you can talk and talk and try to cover all the bases, but in racing there' so many possibilities that you can't possibly talk about them and cover them until one of them happens.

Q: What has been the biggest surprise for you in making the change from open-wheel racing to stock car racing?

A: I don't think there's been too many surprises, just challenges. The biggest challenge has been getting to know the car, what it wants and how to make it better. Probably the one thing that has surprised me the most is how much the tracks change throughout the course of a race.

We've had races where we've started out well, but after that first pit stop we've gone further and further down the order. It can be frustrating, but the best thing about this team is that there no quit in anyone and no one is afraid of hard work.

Q: How hard has it been on a daily basis juggling work and family life with your schedule, especially being a new father?

A: It's been really tough at times, especially back in February when Addison was born. Crystal and Addison were still in the hospital when I had to leave for Daytona. Then I was gone for four days, I came back for two, then I was out in California and Las Vegas, it was very, very hard.

I have to hand it to Crystal, she got up and back coming to the races a lot faster than probably most moms would do, and that's because it was important to her. What makes it easier for me to juggle everything is the fact that she makes sure that it works. She doesn't get enough credit for that and she knows how much it means to me.

Q: What has it been like working with new crew chief Chris Carrier, a new crew and what have been the biggest challenges thus far?

A: Everybody I'm working with this year is pretty much new, except for a couple of guys on the (No.) 77 crew who have been around since I started running the Nationwide (Series) program back in 2006. I tell people it's like putting together a jigsaw puzzle, although you're not really sure if all the pieces are going to fit together.

As far as Chris Carrier goes, I think he's done a great job and to be honest, I really don't think people understand how hard he works to make the pieces fit together. If I would have jumped into the No. 2 car (of Kurt Busch) or the No. 12 car (of Ryan Newman), it would have been easier because those guys have been working together a long time. That's just not the case for us.

There have things that we all can be better at doing, but I think everyone has helped us move forward and not the other way which is good.

Q: What has it been like having Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman as teammates, and what does Ryan leaving the organization next year mean for you if anything?

A: I don't think it's a good thing that Ryan is leaving Penske Racing, but at the same time I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing for me either. In all actuality, it was his decision to go somewhere else. I feel like Kurt has been very helpful and I feel like at times Ryan has been too.

But moving that relationship along can be difficult, because I know how busy I am and I know how busy they are. I know how would I feel is somebody was coming to me all the time asking me how to do this or that, so it makes me a little more apprehensive and I probably don't ask questions as much as I should.

Q: What have you enjoyed most about this season?

A: I don't know if I have a real good answer for that. There have been a lot of tough days this season, but there have also been days like the Daytona 500 (Hornish finished 15th), the Coca-Cola 600 (Hornish finished 13th) and the first Michigan race (Hornish finished 22nd) and I guess you hang your hat on those days.

The best part of the year for me, personally, has been having the chance to spend a lot of time with my family. That really wouldn't have changed no matter where I was racing, but Crystal and Addison have been with me at almost every race and so we've gotten to spend a lot of time together.

Q: What have you enjoyed the least about this season?

A: I'd say cutting down right front tires at Las Vegas, Darlington and Talladega, places where I think we all felt we had a Top 20 car. We could have really boosted ourselves up in the points from where we are now and that has really been probably, the most frustrating thing for me.

Q: What are your goals for this race today and what are your goals for the rest of the season?

A: When I think back about the last time we were here at Michigan and I know we should have finished in the Top 10 or at least the Top 15. Finishing in the Top 10 is at least my first goal for this race, although my goal is always to win.

Getting better, moving forward and finishing well is of course the goal for the rest of the year. Like I said before, it's a learning process and I know in time we'll get it all figured out.

Q: What does the future hold for Sam Hornish Jr.?

A: Right now there are a lot of other drivers out there who aren't sure what they're going to be doing next year. The way I look at it, I've given at least two years to them (Penske Racing in the IRL), I hope they give me two years here (in NASCAR).

That's all the farther I'm looking ahead, really. I'm going to do everything I can to be good the rest of this year, but I'm also looking forward to next year. I feel like I've learned a lot since those first five races of the season, and I know that we're way further ahead now than we were back then.