The NNS field races at Kansas Speedway tomorrow. Only five races remain until the 2013 champion is crowned.
As I mentioned last week in my post about Sam Hornish, Jr.'s early racing career, this would be Hornish's first NASCAR Nationwide Series win if he can hold off Dillon.
Sam Hornish, Jr. isn't new to winning championships, however. He previously raced in the IndyCar Series, and won three championships (2001, 2002, and 2006) before making the transition to NASCAR.
The Transition
Hornish started racing in the IndyCar Series in 2000. In 2004, he joined the Penske Racing team.
Toward the end of the 2006 season, Hornish and Penske announced that Hornish would race in the final two NASCAR Nationwide Series (then the Busch Series) races, as well as select races in the 2007 season while remaining full-time in IndyCar.
Hornish finished 36th in Phoenix and 43rd in Homestead in 2006.
Although not a great start in NNS, keep in mind that he was new to the series.
IndyCar and NASCAR are by no means similar, and Hornish had to overcome that obstacle: "In an IndyCar, you have data which the driver and engineer can look at to see what the car is doing," he said.
"In NASCAR," on the other hand, "the driver has to feel everything the car is doing, then tell that to the crew chief. That makes the people aspect of it much more important in NASCAR than in IndyCar. The crew chief has to understand what the driver is saying and what he means," said Hornish.
Sam Hornish, Jr. continued to be a part-time driver in the Nationwide Series until 2012, when he made the move permanent.
In his first full season, Hornish finished 4th in the points.
NASCAR and IndyCar visit some of the same tracks--Auto Club Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Texas Motor Speedway, for example.
Meaning, Hornish has had the opportunity to race on these tracks in both series. While this may seem like an advantage, Hornish said the only advantage is knowing your way around the track.
It's nice "being familiar with the track, but the cars are so different that it doesn't really help too much" as far as transferring data from one series to the other, he said.
Regardless, Hornish clearly hit his stride when he became a NASCAR Nationwide Series regular.
Memorable Wins
Having raced in both series, Hornish has been able to make it to winner's circle at a variety of tracks. A couple of these wins stand out:
"In IndyCar, the Indy 500, of course," he said.
The Indianapolis 500 is the most prestigious race on the IndyCar circuit, and Hornish earned the coveted win in 2006 by a margin of only 0.0635 seconds over Marco Andretti. He became the first driver to take the lead on the race's final lap in the process.
"It was a childhood dream of mine to make the race, so to win it was amazing beyond my wildest dreams," Hornish said.
To watch the incredible 2006 finish, you can find it here.
As far as in NASCAR, Sam Hornish, Jr.'s most memorable win came shortly after his good friend, Dan Wheldon, passed away in an IndyCar accident at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2011.
"The (2011) Phoenix Nationwide Series race was memorable for me as it came at a great time. We were running a partial schedule, trying to put something together for next year. It was also just a few weeks after Dan Weldon died, so he was in my thoughts that day as we celebrated," he said.
If you haven't been watching the NASCAR Nationwide Series races, now is the time! Tune in tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN to watch the Sam Hornish, Jr. vs. Austin Dillon battle heat up.
Thank you, Sam, for the interview!
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