RELATED: Meet the XFINITY Chase field
SPARTA, Ky. – Sam Hornish may not be a threat in the NASCAR XFINITY Series inaugural Chase, but that doesn’t mean the Richard Childress Racing driver isn’t a concern.
Saturday night’s VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 at Kentucky Speedway (8 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) officially kicks off the series’ seven-race Chase.
Hornish is making just his fourth start of the season, therefore he was not eligible for the 12-team Chase field.
That hasn’t keep him out of the winner’s circle, however as he wheeled the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing to the win at Iowa. And in two subsequent starts with the No. 2 team for RCR, Hornish has finished sixth and second.
He’s making start No. 3 in the No. 2 Chevrolet for RCR here at Kentucky.
And the 37-year-old was once again fast here Friday, clocking the third-fastest lap in each of the day’s two practice sessions.
Qualifying is scheduled for 4:45 p.m. ET on Saturday. Joe Gibbs Racing driver Erik Jones was quickest in both practice sessions.
“It was pretty good,” Hornish said of the results at day’s end. “The car started off a little bit free in the afternoon, but it was so hot. I felt like we got just a little bit behind there in the last practice but our car is good, it’s got decent balance; we just need a little bit to be able to run with the JGR cars.”
Hornish has four top-10 finishes in five XFINITY Series starts at the 1.5-mile Kentucky track. His racing career, which includes three IndyCar championships, got a major boost here in 2000 when he finished ninth after running out of fuel late in the race. That effort opened eyes and doors, and soon his open-wheel career was off and running.
His NASCAR career has included stints in Sprint Cup and the XFINITY Series; he also has one start in the Camping World Truck Series.
“Right now this is the last (race) I have scheduled … we’ve had a good run,” he said of the RCR arrangement. “It’s a good car, they’ve got some wins and they continue to build momentum. I’d like to go to Victory Lane for them for sure.
“They’re running for an owners’ championship so we have to be smart about everything we do as well.”
JGR teammates Jones and Daniel Suarez are seeded first and third in the Chase, respectively, with veteran Elliott Sadler (JR Motorsports) wedged in between.
Ty Dillon, teammate to Hornish, is seeded fourth while Justin Allgaier (JRM) is fifth.
Darrell Wallace (Roush Fenway Racing), Brendan Gaughan (RCR), Brennan Poole (Chip Ganassi Racing), Ryan Sieg (RSS Racing), Ryan Reed (RFR), Brandon Jones (RCR) and Blake Koch (Kaulig Racing) round out the 12-team Chase field.
“We were able to make some good gains mostly in race conditions,” said Jones, who will be seeking his fifth win of the season on Saturday. “It wasn’t so much that we needed the speed, we needed to find some drivability in it and I think we (did). …
“It’s going to change a lot once it cools all the way down and we get into race conditions but I feel pretty good about it.”
Except for the number of races, the XFINITY Series Chase mirrors that of NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series, with three-race segments leading up to a one-race finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.