Still racing an open wheel

So this weekend Sam Hornish Jr took a different approach by entering in a Busch series race instead of trying to get into a the Cup series, and lo and behold he qualified just as he has several other times this year in that series. But then something strange happened. Remember this weekend how Sam had changed his tune? Instead of quotes about doing all he can do in an Indycar he was yapping about how if he has to return to IndyCars and try to win The 500 again then he’s all for it. Well, maybe some higher power was listening.

Around lap 10 of this weekend’s race, Sam’s behemoth lost it’s grip (where’s all that downforce when you REALLY need it?) and started sliding around the infield. To Sam’s credit he kept the car from hitting anything, but he had flat-spotted the tires and would suffer a blowout while circling the track. And this is the strange part: just a few laps in and Sam’s right front tire explodes, shredding the entire fender off the car. Sam would go on to finish the race, driving the reminder of the race with an, ahem, “open wheel” tin top. Sam finished 31st.

Now this kind of thing happens now and again in the N-word, but for it to happen to Hornish in his first race laps since the end of the ICS season is just monumentally coincidental. Maybe this is connecting too many dots, but if ever a guy needed a sign as to his future it would seem Sam just got one. Then again, maybe he just takes Kurt Busch’s points and we’ll all forget this ever happened.

Also entered in the race, Dario Franchitti finished 25th. FoxSports has a nice story about how popular Dario is for his work with Special Olympics, but please don’t draw any parallels between the mentally challenged and his new form of racing. I’m just going to stop right there.