When Sam Hornish Jr. was selected to replace Scott Goodyear at Panther Racing in 2001, some wondered if the Indy Car team knew what it was doing.
After all, Goodyear was a proven veteran with wins and poles to his credit and Hornish was a second-year driver with only a handful of starts under his belt.
The move turned out to be a good one as Hornish dominated the Indy Car Series in 2001, winning three races, finishing in the top-10 12 times and capturing his first championship. Along the way, he became the youngest ever Indy-style titlist.
The performance was light years ahead of his rookie campaign, which included just two finishes in the top-10 and 38 laps led. He finished fourth in the Indy Car rookie-of-the-year standings.
Hornish repeated as champion in 2002 on the back of five race wins.
In 2004, Hornish drove for Penske Racing, replacing Gil de Ferran, who retired after the 2003 season.
Upon joining Penske, Hornish continued to be competitive and finished in third place in the 2005 championship after winning twice in the season.
In 2006, the Defiance, Ohio native recaptured the championship touch, holding off stiff competition from teammate Helio Castroneves and Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s duo of Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon.
Hornish recorded four victories in the season including the prestigious Indianapolis 500, which he won with a last second pass on then-rookie Marco Andretti as they were approaching the checkered flag. He also scored victories at Kansas, Richmond and Kentucky. With a third-place finish at the season-ending Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 at Chicagoland Speedway, Hornish finished the year tied in points with 2005 champion Dan Wheldon. However, by virtue of having more wins (Wheldon only won twice), the Penske driver won his third championship, and first for his organization.
With most of his IndyCar Series goals accomplished, Hornish began testing the stock car waters, competing in Nationwide series diving the No. 12 Mobil Dodge for Penske Racing in the final two events of 2006 and several races in 2007. However, his focus remained on Indy Car in an attempt to successfully defend his championship.
In 2007, Hornish competed in multiple NASCAR Nationwide Series races and two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events as he began his much-anticipated transition from the open-wheel to stock cars. In addition, he competed in his final season in the IndyCar Series, earning a race victory for his seventh consecutive season and finishing fifth in the series driver standings.
After reaching the highest levels of achievement in open-wheel competition, Hornish announced his full-time commitment to stock car racing in November 2007, focusing solely on the new challenge of competing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
Hornish competed as a rookie in the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and earned three top-15 finishes with a season-best result of 13th in the Coca-Cola 600. He was one of two drivers to race their way in the Sprint All-Star race, as well. Hornish finished a close second in the 2008 Sprint Cup Series Rookie-of-the-Year standings.
Hornish also competed in eight Nationwide Series races with four top-15 finishes.
