RELATED: Full schedule for Iowa
NEWTON, Iowa – Four days ago, Sam Hornish Jr. was teaching Vacation Bible School. On Saturday, he hopes to school the NASCAR XFINITY Series field at Iowa Speedway in the American Ethanol E15 250 presented by Enogen (8:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Hornish will make his first NASCAR national series start of 2017 at a track where he has two wins and is the defending race winner. He’s making the start in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford, which is the car atop the owner standings in the XFINITY Series. While he has been out of the car, Hornish has been keeping himself busy with his family — his wife and three kids road tripped with him from Ohio to Iowa for this weekend’s race.
“Whenever anybody asks me what I’ve been up to especially when I’m around home, I say, ‘If I told you, you probably wouldn’t think it takes up that much time, but I never seem to have a free second,'” Hornish said Friday at Iowa.
“It’s just been a lot of fun to be able to spend time with my kids and make some memories with them,” he continued. “I know without putting the time in with them now, I won’t have that opportunity somewhere down the line because they are constantly changing, learning new things and growing up a little more each day.”
Last week, Team Penske announced that Hornish will drive for the team in both Iowa races as well as at Mid-Ohio, near Hornish’s home in Defiance, Ohio.
RELATED: Hornish to drive for Penske in several XFINITY races
“We talked all the way back in December about it,” Hornish said of returning to the Team Penske fold, an organization for which he drove in both NASCAR and IndyCar from 2004 to 2013. “Kind of went back and forth – not so much back and forth on whether we were going to do it but what races it might be and things like that. Hopefully, this is just the first of some things to come.”
The 37-year-old (who turns 38 on July 2) has been selective in his rides in recent years. Outside of a full time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season with Richard Petty Motorsports in 2015, Hornish has run partial schedules in the XFINITY Series for Joe Gibbs Racing and Richard Childress Racing — and now Penske.
“I want to give myself the opportunity that if I’m in the race car, to be in stuff that can at least run in the top 10,” Hornish explained. “I wouldn’t say I was really selective this year. This was an opportunity that presented itself with a team and a bunch of people that I know, as well as the team owners all the way down to the crew chief. …
“I know that at 37, I might be a little bit past that age of getting a full-time Cup ride to compete in the playoffs.”
History says that big things could happen for Hornish at Iowa. Last June, he hopped in the seat of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota for a sidelined Matt Tifft and piloted the car to Victory Lane – leading 183 of the 250 laps. On top of that, Penske has three wins here, as well.
“Iowa is a special place for me. … We always tend to run pretty good here,” Hornish said. “I like this track. I like tracks that have character and are little bit bumpier. Being a short track fits in my wheelhouse. I’m pumped up for the opportunity and for what tomorrow brings.”
One thing that Hornish has yet to experience firsthand is stage racing. Introduced this year, stage racing breaks up the race into three stages – Saturday’s race will see the first two stages last 60 laps each, with the last segment scheduled for 130 laps. Hornish said he likes the added element that stage racing brings to the table but admitted he may be in for a little learning curve.
RELATED: Stage lengths for Iowa
“In the past, how it plays out here, is you generally get some short runs, some long runs,” Hornish said. “But knowing when the stages end, when they are going to play out, that definitely changes some things. That probably allows some guys who are in the third-, fourth-range to be able to take advantage of times when there is a yellow. There’s just a lot of little intricacies to be able to figure out with that. …
“I feel like that is going to be a big thing for me to manage. The good thing is I’ve got a crew that has done very well with it so far this year, as far as how to gain those stage points but also put yourself in position to win the race. That’s what we are here for ultimately is to get the trophy at the end of it.”