page_title: Sam Hornish Jr.
section_title: 2011−2014: Return to Nationwide competition
hierarchical_section_title: Sam Hornish Jr. / NASCAR / 2011−2014: Return to Nationwide competition
caption_attribution_description: The driver's side of w:Sam Hornish Nationwide car in the rain during the 2014 Gardner Denver 200 at Road America. Taken between turns 5 and 6. This file was uploaded with Commonist.
context_page_description: Samuel Jon Hornish Jr. is an American semi-retired professional auto racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 22 Ford Mustang for Team Penske in 2017.
  He began his top-tier racing career in the IndyCar Series, making his driving debut during the 2000 season for PDM Racing. Hornish began driving for Panther Racing the following season, winning eleven races and the 2001 and 2002 series championships over the next three seasons. During the 2004 season Hornish began driving for Team Penske, winning eight more races and the 2006 series championship during his time with the team. When he left the series after the 2007 season, he held the record for most career wins in the series.
  Hornish moved to Penske's NASCAR program part-time in the Xfinity Series during the 2006 season, and began driving part-time in the Sprint Cup Series in 2007. He raced full-time in the Sprint Cup Series the following year, struggling at first, with eight top-ten finishes over his first three seasons and a top points placing of 28th. Hornish returned part-time to the Xfinity Series in 2011, winning one race.
context_section_description: Before the 2011 season Penske sold the owners' points of its No. 77 car to Rusty Wallace Racing, to be driven by owner Rusty Wallace's son (and team driver) Steve at the season-opening Daytona 500, for financial reasons. As a result, Penske moved Hornish to the Nationwide Series to drive the team's No. 12 Dodge Charger. He drove the 5-hour Energy 500 at Pocono Raceway in Front Row Motorsports' No. 38 Ford Fusion, filling in for Travis Kvapil (who was driving in a Truck Series event at Texas). Hornish started in 26th place and finished 35th, 60 laps behind. He drove twelve races with the No. 12 team, moving to Penske's No. 22 for a 13th race at Iowa Speedway. At Iowa Hornish started in third place and led from laps 13 through 51, later dropping five laps behind to finish 24th. In the WYPALL* 200 Powered by Kimberly-Clark Professional at Phoenix International Raceway, he started in fifth place and led for the race's final 61 laps after passing Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (who led for a race-high 73 laps) for his first career victory in the series.
  Hornish returned to the series with Penske for a full-time season in 2012. Winless, he had second-place finishes at Indianapolis, Montréal and Kentucky. After a race at Talladega Superspeedway, Danica Patrick intentionally spun Hornish's car into the main straightaway wall after he made contact with her during the race. He finished fourth at the season-ending Ford EcoBoost 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and was fourth in points with 1,146.
  Hornish returned to the Sprint Cup Series for one race in Penske's No. 12: the STP 400 at Kansas Speedway. Starting in 10th place, he led for seven laps and finished 19th (one lap behind). Midway through the season, Hornish replaced A. J. Allmendinger in Penske's No. 22 car after Allmendinger was suspended by NASCAR for failing a drug test. Allmendinger qualified in eighth place, but due to the driver change Hornish had to move to the rear of the field. He finished 33rd, after a mid-race crash required ten laps of repair time. Hornish drove the car in the remaining races, with a season-best fifth place at Watkins Glen. Aside from that race, his best finishes were a trio of eleventh places at Atlanta, Richmond and Chicagoland. Hornish's best start of the season was fourth at Dover, where he finished 25th (seven laps behind).
  He returned to the Nationwide Series full-time for Penske in 2013 to drive the No. 12, now a Ford Mustang after Penske changed manufacturers. Hornish's 2013 season was his best to date, with 16 top-five and 25 top-ten finishes. At the season-opening DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway, Hornish started and finished second despite his involvement in a serious crash on the final lap. Since race winner Tony Stewart was only eligible to score points for the Sprint Cup Series, Hornish was the series points leader after the Daytona race. At the Sam's Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, he led for 114 laps in his second Nationwide victory. Before the season-ending Ford EcoBoost 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway Hornish was second in points, eight behind Austin Dillon. Hornish qualified in the pole position and led for 37 laps, finishing eighth; Dillon, who finished twelfth, won the series championship. Hornish was second in the final point standings, with 1,177. During the season, car owner Roger Penske said that Hornish (who had driven for the team since 2004) would be released due to a lack of sponsorship. Hornish planned to drive Penske's No. 12 in the Sprint Cup Series at Kansas and Talladega. At Kansas he started in fourth place, running as high as third before crashing on lap 183 due to winds. The qualifier was rained out at Talladega, and Hornish failed to qualify because he had only one other Cup start that season.
  In 2014, he drove for Joe Gibbs Racing in its No. 54 Toyota Camry for a part-time season. Hornish drove seven races in the No. 54, also driving the No. 20 Camry at Michigan (where he finished second). In the No. 54, he started on the pole at Talladega and Mid-Ohio. The highlight of Hornish's season was his 
caption: In the 2014 Gardner Denver 200 Fired Up by Johnsonville at Road America
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