Sam Hornish Jr. 2010 Preview, Predictions & Odds

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Sam Hornish Jr. 2009 Stats

Sam Hornish Jr. 2009 Recap & Review

After a rookie season that could be described as disastrous, Hornish seemingly had nowhere to go but up in 2009. Once again, the team was forced to buy the owner points of Bill Davis Racing’s former No. 22 in order for Hornish to be guaranteed a starting spot in the first five races of the season. (Last year, the team gave Hornish’s No. 77 the owner points from the flagship No. 2 in order to get into the first few races). Luckily, with the decreased number of entries each week this season, Hornish was never outside of the Top 35 in owner points all season long.

While 2008 could be considered consistently bad, 2009 can best be described as simply inconsistent. Even in the good times during the season, the team simply could not put together two great runs in a row. For example, Hornish finished a strong fifth at Michigan in August, making his fuel hold out to the end. What happened after that weekend? Two consecutive finishes of 35th at Bristol and Atlanta, then a eighth place finish at Richmond. What happened the next week after Hornish’s career-best fourth at Pocono? The big wreck at Watkins Glen and a 35th place finish. Granted, that wreck was not Sam’s fault, as he got bumped off the road by Kasey Kahne, but still…

Speaking of Richmond, the three quarter mile oval was Hornish’s best track in 2009. Sam was able to score top 10 finishes in both events there this season (the aforementioned eighth in September, and a then-career best sixth in May).

But where Sam was snakebit the most was car control, as six of those eight DNF’s were due to crashes. This is the one place where Sam did not improve from his rookie season (in 2008, Hornish had four DNF’s, all from wrecks). During our Live Blogs this year, many of our readers simply assumed that Hornish would wreck at some point during the race, even when he was running fine (some readers claimed something along the lines of “It’s not a race until Hornish spins out.”) The propensity to crash must be stopped if he’s capable of moving up a level of competitiveness within the sport.

Penske Championship Racing spent the 2008-2009 offseason readying the new Dodge P6R8 engine for use in the 2009 season. The results for Penske? Generally, very good, especially compared to Richard Petty Motorsports. The engines were very good for the team and generally reliable. However, Hornish did suffer two engine failures during the year (Loudon (September) and Talladega (November)), so that is something that should be looked over thoroughly before next season.

Sam Hornish Jr. 2010 Preview & Prediction

He’s a three-time series champion and winner at the prestigious Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Those are achievements most NASCAR drivers would give their eyeteeth for, and Sam Hornish Jr. has them to call his own. There’s just one catch — he has them all in an IndyCar.

The open-wheel convert continues to struggle in NASCAR, though the 30-year old showed flashes of improvement in 2009, his sophomore season.

Hornish proved he could get it done behind the wheel when he won the Sprint Showdown at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in May, earning a spot in the All-Star Race while building his confidence for points-paying events. Following up a rookie campaign where he never finished better than 13th, he scored a pair of top 5s and seven top 10s to show that he’s capable of running up front. The downside? Eight DNFs. Whether Hornish was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time or took a more active role in the problem, six of the races he failed to finish were due to wrecks.

Hornish will have to overcome that “feast or famine” reputation this season, a priority that’s consumed his No. 77 team for quite some time.

Team owner Roger Penske seems to sense some chemistry with this group, keeping Hornish’s crew chief Travis Geisler at a time when his other two teams are in the midst of sweeping changes. Having taken the job in August ’08, the young crew chief is quietly building a solid reputation inside the Penske camp. But for all the top-level setups he can throw his driver’s way — combined with the solid backing of Dodge and sponsor Mobil 1 — the one thing he can’t do is steer the car clear of on-track trouble.

So can Hornish take the next step forward? It’ll be tough, but note that recent history appears to be on his side. It’s said it takes three years for open-wheelers to make the full stock car transition, a theory backed up by Juan Pablo Montoya’s breakout, Chase-contending performance in 2009. But in order to follow his lead, Hornish must adhere to one of racing’s most basic rules: Bring the car home in one piece.

Sam Hornish Jr. 2010 Predictions

We predict that Sam Hornish Jr. will finish 27th in the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Sam Hornish Jr. Betting & Odds

Sam Hornish Jr. NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship Odds: +10000

Sam Hornish Jr. Betting Trends & Situations

• after finishing worse than 15th, average finish is 26.3
• when racing in February, average finish is 27.7

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