NASCAR Cup Series Rumors

Hornish Jr. one and done at RPM?

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Former IRL hero Sam Hornish Jr. Once the CART drivers came into the IRL, Hornish was over-matched. That has proven to be the case in NASCAR as well.
Former IRL hero Sam Hornish Jr. Once the CART drivers came into the IRL, Hornish was over-matched. That has proven to be the case in NASCAR as well.

Prior to his full-time return to the Sprint Cup Series this season with Richard Petty Motorsports, #9-Sam Hornish had competed in just 23 series events over the course of the past four years. Twenty of those came from a partial schedule with his former employer Team Penske, and the other two were a fill-in stint for the injured Denny Hamlin and a one-off deal with Front Row Motorsports.

RPM came into 2015 with a renewed feeling of promise and an extra skip in their step. The famed #43 team had made some great strides in 2014 with Aric Almirola, including a slot in the Chase and the return of Smithfield Foods. Prior to the Chase last season, Marcos Ambrose announced that he would not be returning to the team, leaving RPM with the task of finding a successor. David Ragan and Hornish were at the top of the list, and it had seemed as though Ragan was leading in the polls.

Ultimately, Hornish got the nod and it was well received by his long-standing fan base, originating from his open-wheel days. This season, Hornish has scored just three top-10s; one in the Daytona 500 and the others in both road courses. He's currently 25th in the standings and has finished on the lead lap just seven times. Nine years in the series with a total of 153 starts, he's led less than 75 laps and finished in the top-10 only 12 times.

After ten races this season, crew chief Drew Blickensderfer was out and Kevin "Bono" Manion was in, but that hasn't seemed to moved the needle in a positive direction. 2016 will probably have a different look and feel for RPM. The King [Richard Petty] has already moved into his new castle and they're rumored to be changing manufacturers. It's likely that Sam Hornish will be done at RPM. And with the impending demise of Michael Waltrip Racing, It is expected that David Ragan to be on a very short list of candidates – including Regan Smith. Popular Speed