| MICHIGAN
INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
Sunday,
June 17, 2007 on TNT
Hornish
Jr. Turns Laps at Michigan International Speedway
Source:
Michigan International Speedway
BROOKLYN,
Mich. -- IndyCar Series champion Sam Hornish
Jr. can’t get enough racing these days.
Fresh off
a fourth-place finish in last Sunday’s Indianapolis
500, the three-time IndyCar Series champion turned a few
laps Tuesday in a stock car at Michigan International
Speedway. Hornish was preparing for a possible run in
the June 15 ARCA RE/MAX Series race at the track.
“I’d
love to run the ARCA race in June,” Hornish said.
“I think that getting here for this test is a fairly
good indication that we will be able to run the ARCA RE/MAX
Series race.”
The test with
14 other ARCA drivers marked a new experience for the
2006 Indianapolis 500 winner. Though this was his first
time in a stock car at MIS, Hornish has five IndyCar Series
starts at the track.
He’s
no stranger to stock cars on a two-mile oval. Hornish
has some seat time in the NASCAR Busch Series race at
California Speedway, the sister track to MIS. Both tracks
are similarly configured, but each is unique and some
uncertainty, he said, always looms.
“This
track is a little bit bumpier and older,” Hornish
said of MIS. “There are a lot more grooves than
out in California, but hopefully we’ll have a good
run and we’ll see what happens.”
A Midwest native,
Michigan International Speedway is a favorite stop for
Hornish. And with three event weekends at MIS that could
potentially include Hornish, that’s a good thing.
Besides next month’s ARCA RE/MAX Series race and
the Aug. 5 IndyCar Series race at MIS, race fans could
also see Hornish competing in the NASCAR Busch Series
CARFAX 250 on Aug. 18.
Hornish has
a limited stock car schedule for 2007 under his legendary
open-wheel
team owner Roger Penske that includes a few Busch Series
events. He has five Busch Series starts so far this season,
and competing in an ARCA race may give Hornish some extra
practice and a competitive edge in that series.
Hornish is
not the first open-wheel standout to use the ARCA RE/MAX
Series as part of a stepping-stone into stock-car auto
racing. Most recently, former Formula 1 driver Juan Pablo
Montoya made two career ARCA RE/MAX Series starts in 2006
before launching a full-time NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series
campaign. Champ Car World Series Champion Paul Tracy used
an ARCA RE/MAX Series open test at Daytona International
Speedway in December 2005 to prepare for his NASCAR Busch
Series debut. Champ Car/Formula 1 veteran Christian Fittipaldi
raced in the ARCA RE/MAX Series in 2003.
Finally, open-wheel
driver Danny Sullivan made his superspeedway debut in
the ARCA RE/MAX Series in 1981. He later went on to win
the Indianapolis 500 in 1985.
“MIS
is the closest superspeedway of any kind that I can race
on each year, and it would be neat to run here three times
in one year,” Hornish added.
And because
of the track’s idyllic location in the Irish Hills
to his home in Napoleon, Ohio, there was no need to use
the helipad.
“I drove
here today. From home, it’s maybe an hour and fifteen
minutes,” Hornish said. “It’s always
fun to drive wherever you go and I like not having to
go to the airport.”
Tickets for
all MIS races, including the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series
Citizens Bank 400 on June 17 and the 3M Performance 400
on August 19, are on sale by calling the MIS Ticket Hotline
at 1-800-354-1010 or by visiting www.MISpeedway.com.
Return
to our Citizens
Bank 400 Index.
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