Sam Hornish Takes the Indy 500 in Historic Win
Sam Hornish had a dream. He realized his dream on May 26, 2006 when he won the 90th INDY 500 race as the youngest driver at 21 years old.
He passed rookie Marco Andretti by .0635 of a second, the second closest margin in Indy 500 history (.043 in ’92) and the closest finish in the Indy Racing League.
He came a long way in five years and is thanking God for his talent, perseverance and supportive family.
From a lad of 11 years old on go-karts, he had a special gift. He eventually won the World Karting Assn. US Grand National championship. He moved on to the US Formula Ford 2000 Series and the Toyota Atlantic Championship 2000 winning "Rookie of the Year". In 2001 "Panther Racing" hired him for the 2001 Indy Racing League Campaign. In that year alone, he earned 5 victories and 11 top 5 finishes.
In 2002 he was the only driver to win two back-to-back Indy Car Series Championships.
In 2003 Team Penske invited him on their team. In 2004 he won his 12th career Indy car race. This was the first time a driver won in his first year with Penske and the 5th time Penske Racing began a season open wheel race with a win.
In seven seasons he has been on the podium 40 times! He has had 51 top 5 finishes in 93 starts. Now at 27 he is the All Time Leader in wins (17), loops led (3,060), races led (58), wins from pole position (6).
The standings for this years’ Indy Race are Sam Hornish 1st, Marco Andretti 2nd, Michael Andretti 3rd, Dan Wheldon 4th, Tony Kanaan 5th.
Following them was Scott Dixon, Dario Franchetti, Donica Patrick.
What a career Sam has had! Hornish is quoted as saying "I thank God for giving me a lot of talent, not so much for the fact for what I can do driving, but the fact that I didn’t want to give up. Then He put me with a great team, and gave me great parents and a wife to support me very much."
Hornishs’ determination led him to overcome setbacks during the race and pull off the victory thanking God and Team Penske.
He is a married family man; he enjoys family and his other "toys" which include two Harley Davidson Motorcycles and several cars.
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