Sam Hornish Jr 2010 Fantasy NASCAR Preview

2009 Stats:Points finish 28th, Wins 0, Top Fives 2, Top Tens 7, Average finish 25.0, Average position 24.1, Laps led 3, Driver rating 63.7

When Hornish started his cup career in 2008 many people never thought he would make it. In 2009 Sam Hornish Jr. proved many of them wrong. Last season Hornish showed vast improvement in the Sprint Cup Series. The highlight of the season for Hornish was All-Star weekend when he raced his way into the All-Star race by winning the Sprint Showdown.

Strengths– Hornish found the majority of his success last season at the shorter flat tracks such as Phoenix, New Hampshire, and Richmond.

Weaknesses- Hornish has shown skill at many of the different styles of tracks on the circuit but his primary weaknesses is overall inconsistency. Every top 10 finish of Hornish’s in 2009 was followed by a 29th or worse finish in the next race.

Intermediate Track Grade- C , Hornish had a few good intermediate track outings in 2009. His best Intermediate track result occurred at Michigan when Hornish finished 5th. Hornish had many good Intermediate track days but unfortuently for him he found trouble in many of them.

Flat Track Grade- B , Hornish who is a former Indy 500 champion found the majority of his success on the flat tracks. Hornish’s best finish of the season was 4th at Pocono. His success wasn’t just limited to this track. Hornish also had top 10 runs at Phoenix, New Hampshire, and also at Richmond (not necessarily considered flat but it is comparable to both New Hampshire and Phoenix).

Restrictor Plate Track Grade- D-, Hornish was a disaster at the restrictor plate tracks in 2009. In fact his best finish in 2009 on this track type was 32nd at both Daytona races.

Short Track Grade- B-, Hornish scored top 10’s at both Richmond races but other then that I would recommend you look elsewhere when you make fantasy selections in 2010. Hornish was pretty bad at both Bristol and Martinsville in 2009.

Road Courses Track Grade- D, In the world of fantasy racing for whatever reason people always tend to think past open wheel drivers have the instant ability to run good at these left and right serpentine tracks. This is a fantasy racing fallacy.

How do you use him from a Fantasy Racing perspective in 2010?

Use Hornish sparingly and smartly. Hornish is an excellent pick for the shorter flat tracks and he also has good runs on the intermediate tracks every once in a while.

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