Hornish Hoping His Time Is Here

Will the Indianapolis Motor Speedway finally smile on Sam Hornish Jr.?

As Hornish and his rivals qualify today, purportedly for all 33 spots in the May 28 Indianapolis 500, Hornish again stands out as a favorite to win the historic race -- and perhaps as the best Indy Racing League driver to never have won it.

Now in his seventh season in IRL, Hornish already has won the championship twice, in 2001 and 2002. He has also won 14 races.

But the Indianapolis 500 has eluded him. Last year, he led the most laps before an accident knocked him out on Lap 147 of the 200-lap race. Accidents and equipment failures also cost him in earlier years. His best finish was 14th in 2001.

Hornish is reserved and soft-spoken, but he is emphatic about winning at the Brickyard.

“It means everything,” he told reporters this week. “We’ll just go out there and make sure we make it to the end of this race.”

Hornish, a 26-year-old Ohioan known for his trademark sideburns and his skill at winning some of the IRL’s closest late-race battles, said he went to Indianapolis with a different approach this year.

Previously, he said, he focused too much on trying to get to the lead on the 2.5-mile oval and staying there. Now, he wants to make sure he finishes the 500 miles so that he’s in a position to win.

“If I do that, I think that I have a real good shot at being in the top five,” he said. “If we’re there with 25 [laps] to go and we’ve got that opportunity, sure, we’re going to go for it.”

Hornish looks as well prepared as ever. He drives for Marlboro Team Penske, whose owner, Roger Penske, has had a record 13 drivers drink the traditional winner’s milk in victory circle.

Two of those wins were achieved by the ebullient Helio Castroneves -- Hornish’s teammate and opposite in personality -- who won in 2001 and 2002.

Both drivers have turned in some of the quickest practice speeds this month, in between the incessant rain that last week forced track officials to postpone qualifying until today.

Hornish has been the most consistent, topping the speed charts more than any other driver, and posted his fastest lap, 228.220 mph in his Dallara-Honda, before rain halted proceedings last Sunday. And when the drivers returned to the track this week -- this time with loaded fuel tanks to simulate race conditions -- Hornish was fastest at more than 224 mph.

“It’s a pretty neat feeling, going out there and being quick again,” he said. “We feel pretty comfortable right now, and hopefully it will continue that way.”

In Friday’s final pre-qualifying practice, Hornish was fastest again, for the sixth time this month, at 227.925.

But he can’t relax. Dan Wheldon, the defending 500 and IRL champion, had the fastest practice speed of the month, 228.663, last Sunday. And several other top IRL drivers have posted speeds just shy of Hornish’s, including Castroneves, Tony Kanaan of Andretti Green Racing, who won the IRL title in 2004, and Scott Dixon, Wheldon’s Target Chip Ganassi teammate and IRL champion in 2003.

All are pole contenders today.

Normally, qualifying is staggered over three days, with 11 of the 33 starting positions determined each day.

But with rain scuttling that plan, race officials decided to hold qualifying for the entire grid today. Sunday will be “bump day,” when the slowest qualifiers can be bumped from the field by faster unqualified cars.

Hornish, who started second in the front row last year, says he has “an awesome chance of going out there and maybe being able to get the pole” for the 90th Indianapolis 500.

“I don’t think we’ll be disappointed if we don’t,” he added. “We just have to figure out how to win this race. I’d rather win the race than win the pole.”