Other top drivers in the NASCAR Nationwide Series have Victory Lane trips to show for their success, but the tour’s hottest driver is the only one in the top five without one.
Sam Hornish Jr. brings an impressive string of 10 straight top-10 finishes into Friday night’s Food City 250 (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Even more remarkable has been his most recent four-race span, which has netted a pair of runner-up and third-place finishes each, a stretch that’s helped him climb from fourth place in the Nationwide points into a tie for second over the last two races.
“The run that we’ve made over the past, I think about eight races, is really what we thought we were going to be able to do at the beginning of the year,” Hornish said. “. . . I think that we still feel like there’s a little bit to gain yet, but we’re definitely a lot closer.
“We keep marching along. Our big strength so far this year is that, we haven’t won races, but we’ve been consistent.”
Bristol hasn’t been kind to Hornish over the years — he finished no better than 25th in six Sprint Cup efforts on the .533-mile bullring, and has just a 13.5 average finish in two Nationwide starts there.
On the flip side, Bristol has been a comfortable place for points leader Elliott Sadler, who surged to victory in the track’s 250-lapper in March. He enters Friday night’s event 22 points ahead of Hornish and defending series champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
