Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

Man of mystery

Sam Hornish Jr. piles up success in the IRL but is relatively unknown to casual fans.

By BRANT JAMES
Published March 30, 2005

	[Getty Images]
	Sam Hornish Jr., celebrating his 2004 Toyota Indy 300 win, is the only IRL driver to win two championships.

Sam Hornish Jr. shouldn't be able to walk through an airport in this country without being hounded by manic fans brandishing Sharpies.

Sign this, pose here, hold my baby. Smile.

Thing is, there's another Junior who still drives Chevys and holds much of America's racing affection and a large portion of its attention. His resume is not nearly as grand - 15 wins, but no titles - but his last name demands attention.

As does the series for which Dale Earnhardt Jr. races - NASCAR. Whereas open-wheel stars such as Mario Andretti and A.J. Foyt once defined American racing, Hornish finds himself a man born into the wrong era.

"It's frustrating, and it's a little bit disappointing because I know growing up how much I loved Indy car racing - obviously I still do - and how much I looked up to Rick Mears, Danny Sullivan, Al Unser Jr.," Hornish said. "I wish more people knew my name because that means the series is going more in the direction we need to be going."

But for now, Hornish can fly in peace.

"I went to Japan a couple of years ago - flew from Detroit to Washington, D.C., to fly to Japan - sat there for four or five hours in the airport and no one says a word to me," Hornish recalled. "I fly to Japan, the first half hour I'm there and I get a few people ask me for autographs."

The IRL desperately wants to import its native son's popularity. In Hornish it sees the justification of its being.

"He's absolutely the poster boy for what the IRL was founded upon," IRL president Brian Barnhart said, "creating opportunity for drivers."

But until the IRL figures out a way, as Barnhart puts it, to "create an attachment where they are not casual fans, they become diehard fans (of the league)," Hornish remains a man of mystery to many casual racing fans. Hornish said the recognition factor is "starting to get a little better," but his personality isn't helping.

"Sam is a lot quieter than a lot of other people who participate in sports in general," Barnhart said. "I think the best line I ever heard to describe Sam Hornish came from Eddie Cheever. It is so appropriate when you see how Sam is on the racetrack. He is a masterful tactician and absolutely as good a talent behind the wheel as you will see anywhere, yet his personality is so quiet outside the car. Cheever's comment about him was, "Sam's like a cat. He's either sleepin' or fightin' ' and when he's awake and in that car and fightin' he's as good as there is, but when he gets out of that car, he's just very low-key."

Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Rick Mears, an adviser with Team Penske, said the key to Hornish's success - besides "staying in their mirrors and putting himself in a place to go get them by the start finish line" is knowing when to disengage the real Sam.

"I kind of liken it to acting," Mears said. "When you get in the car, you're able to be someone you aren't. And you can do it legally. You can be aggressive, and it's called for."

There are few better in the waning laps. Hornish was won three of the four closest finishes in IRL history and nipped teammate Helio Castroneves at the finish line by 0.0698 in their first race together last season at Homestead. He adroitly held off Franchitti at Phoenix to pass Dan Wheldon for the points lead.

That Hornish was able to win three times in 2003 for a Panther Racing team whose Chevrolet engines were not as powerful as those using Hondas or Toyotas had convinced team-owner Roger Penske to sign him as a replacement for retiring Gil de Ferran.

"He made up for a lot," Mears said of the 2003 season. "I can't sit here and say how good or bad the equipment was because I wasn't involved with the (Panther) team. But I think the part that really stood out in my mind was the last year he ran with Panther, when they were down on horsepower and the accomplishments he had with that."

The question is, did anyone but Penske notice? And will they? Give it time, Mears said.

"He's not done yet," Mears said. "He has a long way to go and a lot of things to do yet."

The airport might become a hassle yet.

[Last modified March 30, 2005, 01:04:14]