Sam Hornish Jr. to Start 11th Sunday in Mexico City

April 19, 2008

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (April 19, 2008) – Sam Hornish Jr., driver of the Penske Racing No. 12 Penske Truck Rental Dodge Charger in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, will start the Corona Mexico 200 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, Mexico in the 11th position on Sunday.
 
Hornish Jr. took to the track in the fifth group of qualifiers in a rare road race qualifying format, posting a fast lap time of 89.256 seconds at a speed of 101.560 miles per hour. The effort secured the Penske Truck Rental team an 11th-place starting position on Sunday afternoon.

Competing in his first-ever road course event in a NASCAR stock car, Hornish Jr. views this weekend’s race as an opportunity to gain valuable experience in preparation for the upcoming road course events in the NASCAR Cup Series.

“We didn’t qualify as well as we had hoped but we’re still pleased,” said Hornish Jr. “The car was a little too free for qualifying and the first lap was not as good as I had hoped it would be. We tend to race better than we qualify so we should have a strong run on Sunday. I’m excited to compete in my first NASCAR road course event and feel this will only serve to benefit our efforts on the Cup Series side in Sonoma and Watkins Glen.”

The Corona Mexico 200 will air live on ESPN on Sunday, April 20, 2008 beginning at 1:30 p.m. EDT. The race will also be broadcast live on MRN at 2 p.m. EDT.
 
 
Driver:         Sam Hornish Jr.
Position:      11
Speed:        101.560
Time:          89.256

Pole:          Colin Braun