Back in the Summer of 2009 Mobil 1 the Grid visited Penske Racing’s impressive state of the art facility at Mooresville, and one of the people we caught up with there was driver of the No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger Sam Hornish Jr…

How did you first get into motor racing?
Err it started out as a father son activity, something my dad and I were going to spend a little bit of time a couple of weekends a year and kind of blossom into this, I never, really did we think that it was going to go this far.

What was your first big win in motor racing and what did it mean to you.
Err my first big win I guess was when I won the Toyota Atlantic race at err Chicago land Speedway, err that was back in 1999, that was my first racing car, I won a lot of stuff in go karts but that was the first actual big car that I won in.

How do you handle the pressures of fame, the fans and the media?
I kind of enjoy it I mean it’s great because the fans are what keep us out there and keep you know our sponsors want to be on our car so err, I don’t really ever look at it as any pressure really, just kind of go through it and try to do the best I can with it.

What is the best thing about your sport?
I get to drive race cars I mean all the other stuff that we do, the interviews all the, all the other stuff is just you know that’s the, that’s the work part of it, driving the race car is what we all love to do and probably would do for free.

What’s your greatest ambition?
Err yeah I want to get to the point where we can win stock car races err I’ve done a lot of other stuff in racing and you know this is the new challenge for me is to try and get to the point where we can go out there and win.

Who is your number one driver of all time and why?
Rick Mears was my first favourite driver growing up err, I had a lot of Indy car drivers I looked up to most of them were Penske guys. But I always looked up to Dale Earnhardt Senior, that’s the only stock car racing driver that I was ever a real big fan of.

Who do you see as the number one current driver?
Err… I don't know I mean there’s so many different guys err, if you’re going to look at any sport erm, you know they’re definitely got a lot of ups and downs but Kyle Busch is really you know kind of taking over as far as a stock car side and being able to win in all three series you know pretty consistently.

Which is your number one circuit and why?
Err you know I like the stock car racing you know I think that that’s definitely it’s continuing to still grow if you look at it, it’s probably about the most competitive you know you look at qualifying times from first to forty third and that that closeness is you know it can’t be achieved by any other series.

You started NASCAR in 2008. Does it feel good to have one complete season behind you?
Well definitely because you had the opportunity to go to all the tracks you know what to expect out of them I’d never been to Bristol before or Martinsville, or Sonoma in a stock car, there was a lot of places that I just hadn’t been to and had to kind of go out there, figure out what the track was like, where my breaking points were, where you need to start accelerating, what line you need to run. Erm this year I just have a better feeling going in each one of those races about where I need to be, the things that I need to be doing and it makes me a bit more comfortable.

What was the toughest moment for you last year?
Err the toughest moment of the season was err, not being able to race at Miami we were, err, eleventh and final practice and I went out there and thought that we had a car that we could put on the poll and drove it too hard in the [one], and the car got loose and we got up in the wall and then we didn’t make the race. So not only did we not make the race then, but ended up losing rookie of the year because of that and it was, everything was all, pretty much sum into one lap one corner of making the season somewhat a success or you know making it feel like I should have done a lot more so that was the toughest point of the year for us.

What was the most enjoyable part of last year?
We had quite a few enjoyable things err being able to run well at some of the tracks that we struggle at in the first half of the season, but then went back and ran well in the second half that was good, erm, Charlotte was a bright kind of stand out for us. We ran well in all three races that we had there, where there was the all star race or the coke 600. and then we led some laps at Michigan actually passed Jimmie Johnson for the lead so I mean those things were definitely highlights for me, but the Daytona 500 being able to run as well as we did there, we ran in the top five for probably half the race, and ended up err, getting shuffled out there, because of the rookie stripes on the back of the car towards the end so, I’m, I definitely looking forward to going to those tracks again.

Can single seater racers transfer success into NASCAR?
Not really you know I look at all the places that I hadn’t been to before err last season erm, and a lot of those went better that a lot of places that I’d went to in the in the Indy car series and felt really good about it and had won races there so, I try to pretty much put everything out of my mind of what I had done in Indy car and really focus it towards a stock car.

You must miss the buzz of winning races, how do you stay motivated?
Erm it’s the days where you go out there and you have you’ll have a car that you run in the top fifteen or you lead a couple of laps, or you feel like you learn something new. You know I definitely miss winning races but I know that when we get to that point of winning races over here, it’s going to feel that much better.

You switched from team Penske in Indy car to Penske and NASCAR- tell me about how the organisation differs between the two championships…
Well there’s a there’s a lot of difference err first of all the amount of people on Indy car side, we pretty much have five cars that we run throughout the season. Err two for each driver and then you basically have a back up. Erm a lot of time we have a sixth car but you know that really does never get brought out unless we really need it. erm, over here each driver has over ten cars so it’s err, there’s a big difference to the amount of people that you have over there, erm you know err plus we have twice as many races on this side, erm, just the way things are done have always been a little bit different but a lot of the guys have been brought for me to the sports car side, or the Indy Car side and are now being brought into the stock car side of it and you know transition with a lot of that thinking and a lot of the way that things are done, over in this realm so that hopefully you know we can have the success that that Indy Car series and the Indy Car team has had over the years.

After winning Indianapolis and winning the Championship, what made you move over to NASCAR?
I’d finished second in a couple of races so I knew that I wanted to drive a stock car at some point in time, I wanted to run the Daytona 500 I wanted to race at Bristol, one other run, the [break yard 400] erm and I knew that I would just not be happy in my career if I never got to do anything of those things but you have to do it full time so after having the success and winning the Indianapolis 500 I knew that I’d achieved everything that I could have ever dreamed about achieving in Indy car and it was time to try something new, and I had an opportunity to run a couple of [bush] races over here, see how difficult it was how much different it was from what I was racing and I knew that when I got to the point that I wanted to retire some day that I wouldn’t feel like I had tried everything that I wanted to if I didn’t come and do this.

Now you can reflect back after running a full season, was it tougher than you thought it would be?
I knew that it was going to be tough, that’s why I wanted to do it, erm, if you would have said that we’d be this far along yet and still, I wouldn’t have a top five, I probably would have said, that’s a possibility but I think we can do it but you know I think that that top five and you know that that possible win is right around the corner. It’s, we’ve had the speed this year to go out there and run in the top ten, we just have had bad racing luck, we’ve had wheels fall off, we’ve had pit crew guys fall down, we’ve just had small problems, and once we get those things going on our side, that’s when we’re going to be able to shine.

Dario Franchitti, he’s moved back to Indy car. Can you see yourself ever going back to Indy car, perhaps with team Penske?
It would be something that I would really be interested in maybe doing the Indianapolis 500 at some point in time err whenever you could run the Indianapolis 500 and the coca cola 600 in the same day if they move that schedule enough I’d love to try to race 11 hundred miles in one day. Erm, but until that time you know I’m a stock car driver, this is what I want to do, this is what I want to get myself to the point that we’re successful at, erm, if it ever were to happen that that err, I was retired and maybe wanted to run a one off race, that might be something that would happen.

How is family life and having a daughter changed you as a person or as a driver?
I don’t think it has changed me at all as a driver because I’ve always looked at my racing as soon as I start thinking about things outside the car while I’m in the car, I need to find a new job to do. So I don’ t think that affects at all, but when we have a bad day or we have a good day you know getting back to the bus and being able to see her, and she’s smiling, you know she’s smiling whether it’s a good day or a bad day, she doesn’t know the difference and that’s just enjoyable. It makes you think about something else and how important racing is but how much important everything is also on top of that sometimes you just have to say we had a bad day in the race car but I can have a great day as a dad.

NASCAR is so unique as a sport, it seems more than just a motor race, people camp out for days on end- how did you feel when you first came into it?
Well I had an opportunity to kind of step into it slowly and go from being in Indy cars where there was a lot of people that came to the races but generally not a lot of them camped, a lot of them went into hotel, you know stayed in hotels and whatnot. Erm then I got to run the I rock stuff ran limited Busch stuff and then all got to kind of get into slowly so now it’s just it’s not that big of a change from what you know I’ve kind of seen but I think if I would have had to come into it one day and just say hey I’m doing this one day an now I’m going to go run stock cars, I mean it would be like man this is a different group. I mean the fans are hardcore, they go out there and they’ll sleep in tents, I saw a tent err leaving Bristol that looked no bigger than a sleeping bag I mean it was basically enough for you to crawl in there in your sleeping bag and that’s all it was. But you know they don’t care they just they want to go to the race, they want to enjoy their time there, and the f- the fans have been really good that’s been one of the most exciting parts of it for me is meeting a lot of new fans.

Being a big name in motor sport, having won the Indy 500, do you feel the weight of expectation?
I feel that there’s always expectation whether it’s from fans, sponsors, the people that work on your cars, but nobody expects more out of me than what I do, so erm, if I’m not winning I’m letting myself down first and foremost, and I’ll be the, the guy that’s, I’ll be the first one to be hard on me. So erm I feel that there’s a lot of expectation to live up what I what I expect to be doing, and err, I try to keep everybody else happy as well, with but you know I’m the first one that’s disappointed if we don’t do well.

Tell me the qualities that you need to race in NASCAR…
I don't know I can’t always look at myself as err, I’m the guy that will tell you how it is, I’m not going to blow something out of proportion but I’m not going to downplay something either, you know I’ll give you an honest answer about the question that you asked me to the best of your, my ability but err, I don't know I’m not the show boating type of guy.

Talk to me about your teammates- at the race we noticed that all drivers have very different looking cars, different sponsors, different trucks- tell me about Kurt and David, do you work closely together or are you kept quite separate and what’s your relationship with both those drivers?
Well a NASCAR drivers schedule whether it’s their personal schedule or their business schedule is very busy so a lot of times I feel like if I go over and ask them too many questions like I’m taking a bunch of time out of their day. But they are both very good to answer. Kurt’s err has been good to me over the past couple of years. I go over and we’ll play cards once in a while. He he’s interested in a lot of the same things I am, the old cars, and erm, playing cards and bowling and stuff like that. It struck me as err, definitely David has been a great asset to me over the past couple of months I’ve been able to work with him, err he’s very open about you know what he’s doing inside the race car, and he wants to learn and prove himself as much as I want to learn and prove myself so I think we’re both in a good situation to be able to help each other out.

Finally, if you could have given yourself some advice a year ago, what would be the one thing you’d say to yourself to help you become a better NASCAR driver?

I think if I could have told myself anything a year ago, remember how long these races are. You know most of them are 500 laps, or five hundred miles, err coming from Indy cars most of the races were two hundred laps or two hundred miles so they went by very quickly. Erm and it was more of a sprint race you had to go out there and you had to do things quickly and there wasn’t time to wait. Stock cars, it’s like alright right, you know, drive for a little bit, drive for a little bit race for a little bit but don’t take too many chances until later on in the race, you know you can get yourself into so much trouble early, and if you get a lap behind early you just it’s just so hard to get laps back so you just need to make sure that you keep yourself out of trouble and make sure that you make it to the end of these races because the last hundred laps is a lot of time when the most accidents happen and there’s the most spots available to be gained.