Iowa Speedway’s most recent winner will be in the field Saturday night, but Sam Hornish Jr. will be driving for a different team.
Hornish makes his debut for Richard Childress Racing driving the No. 2 Rheem Chevrolet in the U.S. Cellular 250. It will be just his second Xfinity Series start of the season.
After dominating at Iowa in June while serving as a substitute driver for Joe Gibbs Racing, Hornish now has a chance to sweep the races at the .875-mile oval. Should he do so, Hornish would become the second driver in series history to achieve the feat while driving for two different teams.
There’s more.
Already a two-time winner at Iowa, a third victory would place Hornish in a three-way tie with Brad Keselowski and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. for the most in the series. Keselowski will pull double duty this weekend as he makes the trip to Iowa Speedway from Pocono Raceway where the Sprint Cup Series is competing.
Hornish and Keselowski are also connected in another way when it comes to Iowa. In his last six starts at the track, Hornish has finished in the top-five each time, which ties him with Keselowski for the longest ever streak. But Hornish has done it while working with two different teams and four different crew chiefs.
A four-time Xfinity Series winner, only one of those wins came while Hornish was competing full-time. And each has come while working with a different crew chief, which he’s set to do again this weekend.
As for Richard Childress Racing, the No. 2 team will be looking at Hornish to be the second different driver they’ve won with this year. Austin Dillon took them to victory lane at Auto Club Speedway in March.
“I’ve been looking forward to this for quite some time,” Hornish said in a team release. “I have a lot of respect for Mr. Childress and can’t wait to drive for him. I really like racing at Iowa speedway because the layout and character really fits my driving style. It’s going to be great to be back behind a Chevrolet. I won a lot of races with them in the IndyCar Series. The opportunity to work with the guys on the No. 2 Rheem Chevrolet provides me a shot to run up front and hopefully get another win the NASCAR Xfinity Series.”