A new name will be over the door of the Monster Energy Camry this weekend, that of NASCAR Nationwide Series veteran Sam Hornish Jr. who will tackle the 33-degree banking of Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway with Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) and the No. 54 team. Hornish Jr. will have the wheel of the Monster Energy Toyota seven times this season, this weekend at the 2.66-mile high banks of Talladega, May 18 and August 2 at Iowa Speedway, June 21 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI, July 19 at Chicagoland (Ill.) Speedway, August 6 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington and September 20 at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta.
The 34-year-old’s NASCAR career consists of 130 starts in the Sprint Cup Series and 99 career starts in the Nationwide Series with two wins, 28 top-five finishes and 53 top-10 finishes recorded through 2013 in the NNS. Last year alone, Hornish secured four pole positions, one win (Las Vegas, Nev., ’13), 16 top-five and 25 top-10 finishes en route to a second-place driver standing at season end, three points shy of a Nationwide Series championship. Hornish Jr. famously touts a strong career in the IndyCar Series where he has been champion three times (’06, ’02 and ’01) and collected 19 wins across eight race seasons, including the famed Indy 500 victory in 2006.
Crew Chef Adam Stevens is looking forward to the opportunity with Hornish Jr., a Napolean, Ohio native. Stevens has led series regular Kyle Busch and team to two wins and eight top-five finishes of eight races run so far this season. The veteran NNS crew chief is a past winner of Talladega Superspeedway with previous JGR driver Joey Logano, in 2012. He registers two top-five finishes and 22 laps led in three race starts on the 2.66-mile tri-oval – -needless to say he and Hornish Jr. will be a good combination together, both driven to bring home the checkered flag.
With a third-place finish in last week’s Richmond (Va.) International Raceway event, the No. 54 Monster Energy team and owner J.D. Gibbs increased their first place lead in the series’ Owner’s Championship points, to 19. This week they look to maintain that lead with a successful run with last year’s Nationwide Series Championship runner up Sam Hornish Jr., who wants nothing more than to contribute to the strong performance this No. 54 Monster Energy team has had in 2013 so far.
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