Sam headed back to IndyCars?

[Damon]

Hopefully this happens:





Hornish back to Indy Cars? Though #77-Sam Hornish Jr. again finished ahead of fellow rookie of the year contender #01-Regan Smith, padding his lead in the ROTY standings, rumors continue to swirl that Hornish Jr. could be headed back to Indy Cars next season.(Yahoo Sports (http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/news?slug=bm-observations110208&prov=yhoo&type=lgns))(11-3-2008)

[indycool]

Poster at another forum saw Penske on TV from the Texas NASCAR race denying it.

[NickFalzone]

Hornish is behind Regan Smith in both driver's points and his car in owner's points. He probably will not be getting ROTY

[Damon]

Poster at another forum saw Penske on TV from the Texas NASCAR race denying it.


Of course he's going to deny it, he doesn't HAVE to spill the beans on Hornish's future and to be honest, I think Sam is going to want to try it for another year before feeling like it's a lost cause and head back to IndyCar, if he ever does decide to come back.

[Wilf]

Hornish is behind Regan Smith in both driver's points and his car in owner's points. He probably will not be getting ROTY

Actually, Sam leads Regan Smith by 4 pts. following the Texas race. Remember ROTY only counts the best 17 events and then there is a voting procedure which could take a non pts leader into the title. That being the case, Sam is still in it even though he has only won $4,436,570 so for this year.

It's a testament to how expensive NASCAR racing has become; a guy who makes $4.5 million might not be good enough to stick around!

[indycool]

Damon, he was not required by anybody to deny it. What do you mean, "of course?"

[Damon]

Damon, he was not required by anybody to deny it. What do you mean, "of course?"


Everybody tries to deny things when big news breaks that they don't expect to leak out as soon as it does. It would've been news to me if Roger said that they'd explore all options, including a return to IndyCar for Sam, that's all I'm saying.

[indycool]

TSO even reported that Sam said on a radio show that he was staying in NASCAR. And RP really doesn't play that way.

[bowers]

Hornish is behind Regan Smith in both driver's points and his car in owner's points. He probably will not be getting ROTY

Those two factors don't decide the ROTY. the ROTY points sytem is structured pretty wacky actually and actually Sam Hornish Jr. is leading them at this time with 198 pts, and Regan Smith at 194pts.

The system is really dumb honestly. The highest finishing rookie gets 10pts, the 2nd highest 9ths, etc. Only the top 17 finishes of the rookies are counted in the overall standings. 1 bonus point is gained by attempting to qualify. Bonus points are also gained with a top 10 finish. If a rookie finishes 1st he gets a 10pt bonus, 2nd 9pts, etc. down to 10th place (1pt).

Further points are garnered through the highest finishing rookie in the regualr cup points standings at the end of the year... highest placing rookie = 10 pts, 2nd highest 9pts, etc.

Then this is the best part. The rookies will get graded after Homestead on a few areas such as treatment of officials, conduct on and off track, and overall appearance??? They get an overall mark out of 10. 10 being the the best possible. This grade adds corresponding points to the drivers ROTY total.


So basically what you need to know is that this ain't over yet!



Oh and Sam himself had now denied going back to IndyCars:
-Though #77-Sam Hornish Jr. again finished ahead of fellow rookie of the year contender #01-Regan Smith, padding his lead in the ROTY standings, rumors continue to swirl that Hornish Jr. could be headed back to Indy Cars next season.(Yahoo Sports)(11-3-2008)
UPDATE: at Phoenix International Raceway Friday morning, #77-Sam Hoprnish Jr. denied he was leaving NASCAR and heading back to the IRL for the 2009 season and plans to be back in Sprint Cup in 2009 try to win races in the #77 car.(PRN's Garage Pass Radio Show)(11-7-2008) jayski.com