By Dick Mittman
allstate400atthebrickyard.com
Friday, August 4, 2006
Sam Hornish Jr. and Ryan Newman grew up 102 miles apart in Defiance, Ohio, and South Bend, Ind., respectively, yet they never raced against each other during their formative years.
They now both drive for Roger Penske, the ultimate among race car owners.
On May 28, Hornish presented Penske his 14th victory in the Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Now it is mid-summer, and the NASCAR stars are at the Speedway for Sunday's 13th annual Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.
And it's Newman's turn to try to hand Penske one of the few racing trophies that has eluded The Captain during his 40 years of involvement in the sport - a stock car victory at Indy.
"I would love to give Roger that win and that double for the year," said Newman, who drives the No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge for Penske.
"We've had shots before, both Rusty (Wallace, now retired) and I in the past. This has been a rough year, but we're looking for an opportunity to turn it around. We've got the same car we had at Pocono, so I know we have a good race car. It's a matter of being in the right place at the right time."
Newman's season started with a bang when he drove from 18th to third in the Daytona 500. But it has been mostly downhill since with four top-10 finishes and a plummet to 18th in the standings.
But there are signs of a revival as he captured his 31st and 32nd career poles at Dover and New Hampshire, respectively, and started second at Pocono in the previous NEXTEL Cup Series race two weeks ago. He finished 18th in the race but led 12 laps and completed all 200.
"The hardest thing about it," Newman said about his season decline, "is what you had and trying to get back so that you can have it again."
Newman was born Dec. 8, 1977, and grew up racing quarter-midgets while earning an engineering degree at Purdue. Hornish was born July 2, 1979, and drove karts in his youth.
"We never crossed paths," Newman said.
Penske, who has an astute eye for young talent, saw something in both of them.
Newman came first. He came to the Penske South team in 2001, and as a rookie, he qualified fifth at the Brickyard. He led three laps but slipped back to 31st at the finish.
He has continued to qualify well at his home-state Speedway with fifth in 2002, second in 2003, seventh in 2004 and sixth last August. He chased Bill Elliott, Rusty Wallace and Matt Kenseth home in fourth in 2002, but his other finishes have been 11th, 31st twice and 34th.
Hornish's IndyCar career started with PDM Racing in 2000, and then he earned a pair of Indy Racing League championships with Panther Racing in 2001-02 before Penske plucked him away. Hornish failed to finish his first two Indy 500s in a Penske machine, but last May swooped past rookie Marco Andretti only yards from the finish line to add another Borg-Warner Trophy to his boss's impressive collection.
Huge photos of Newman and Hornish grace the team transporter along with respective teammates Kurt Busch and Helio Castroneves. Hornish and Newman, the laid-back Midwesterners, have become friends.
"Yeah, he's a great guy," Newman said of Hornish.
"We spent some time together. I showed him around our house and stuff when he came down to North Carolina earlier in the year. I think he's a lot like me, and I'm a lot like him. And we both try to win as much as we can."
Among his fans Sunday will be his sister Jamie Klepper and her husband, Clay. They live in nearby Brownsburg, Ind.
Penske's Indy resume is amazing.
His IndyCar drivers, starting with Mark Donohue in 1969, have completed 10,660 laps in the Indianapolis 500, a total of 26,650 miles. His NASCAR pilots have turned 3,048 laps in the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard for 7,620 miles. The combined mileage is 34,270 miles, or nearly 1 1/3 times around the earth at the equator.
Wallace nearly gave Penske a Brickyard victory three times, with a second-place finish to Dale Earnhardt in 1995, a second to Bobby Labonte in 2000 and a second to Elliott in 2002.
There is another incentive for Newman to win. It would be the second straight victory by a Hoosier-born driver following Tony Stewart's popular win last August.
`"We'll have to see," Newman said. "I'd just like to get to Victory Lane."
***
Tickets: Tickets are on sale for the 2006 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 6 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Fans can order tickets online at www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com, by calling the IMS ticket office at (317) 492-6700 or (800) 822-INDY outside the Indianapolis area, or at the ticket office at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Parking and camping information also can be obtained through the ticket office.
Hours for phone orders and the ticket office are 8 a.m.-5 p.m. (ET) Monday-Friday, while online orders can be made at any time.
Reserved seats start at just $35.
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