{"id":1101,"date":"2011-09-28T08:00:43","date_gmt":"2011-09-28T12:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/?p=1101"},"modified":"2011-10-04T20:44:29","modified_gmt":"2011-10-05T00:44:29","slug":"a-conversation-with-nascar-driver-and-former-indy-car-champion-sam-hornish-jr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2011\/09\/a-conversation-with-nascar-driver-and-former-indy-car-champion-sam-hornish-jr.html","title":{"rendered":"A conversation with NASCAR driver and former Indy Car champion Sam Hornish Jr."},"content":{"rendered":"

Click “Like” to share this with your friends!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Sam Hornish Jr. (Photo by John Harrelson\/Getty Images for NASCAR)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He won the Indianapolis 500 and two Indy Car championships. Then suddenly, Sam Hornish Jr., decided to follow the likes of Tony Stewart, Casey Mears and Juan Pablo Montoya into the very different world of stock car racing.<\/p>\n

Since then, he\u2019s found modest success at the NASCAR Sprint Cup level with Penske Racing and more recently taken up the opportunity to rebuild some competitive capital in the Nationwide Series. But no matter where Hornish races, it\u2019s his strong faith upbringing that always sustains him.<\/p>\n

In this interview with Hornish, we learn more about his family\u2019s racing obsession, the importance of maintaining his Christian witness and why (despite what his mom says) he won\u2019t be gracing a church pulpit anytime soon:<\/p>\n

Chad Bonham: Do you sometimes feel like you were destined to be a racecar driver?<\/p>\n

Sam Hornish: I\u2019m a big race fan. I got that from my parents. They\u2019ve always been big race fans. I think we only went to Disney World once but other than that our family vacations were always to races. They supported me so much early on in my career. They supported me financially and emotionally. And even though they don\u2019t need to support me financially anymore, they\u2019re still always around trying to help me out and making sure I have the right mindset. I feel like my parents are a very big influence on who I am. I feel very lucky to have two parents that care so much about me and they have such a strong interest in what I do.<\/p>\n

Bonham: Are you still comfortable with your move to NASCAR?<\/p>\n

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Sam Hornish Jr. prepares for fall season Sprint Cup race in 2006 (Photo courtesy of NASCAR)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hornish: I\u2019m very thankful for what I was able to accomplish (at Indy Car). But I\u2019m the kind of guy that tries to look at today and what\u2019s going on today and how I can make myself better for tomorrow. I don\u2019t think about the past too much. Somewhere down the road when I retire I\u2019ll probably be able to appreciate it a little more. Right now, it\u2019s just about staying focused and making myself better over here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bonham: Your mom once said that if you weren\u2019t a race car driver, you\u2019d be a pastor. Do you agree with that assessment?<\/p>\n

Hornish: This is kind of my own way to minister to people. It\u2019s not necessarily about being the guy that\u2019s up there sharing from a pulpit. But I\u2019ve been able to profess my faith and maybe reach more people than if I had been a pastor. The one thing that would\u2019ve kept me from being a pastor is my fear of public speaking. I have a hard time believing that people care about what I have to say sometimes.<\/p>\n

Bonham: How does your faith in God keep you in the right frame of mind?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Sam Hornish Jr., with daughter Addison at the Coke Zero 400 in Daytona on July 2, 2010 (Photo courtesy of NASCAR)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hornish: Faith plays a big role in helping me stay even keeled. Having the support of (Motor Racing Outreach) has also been great. I don\u2019t know what I would do if we didn\u2019t have that available to us. It\u2019s been an amazing thing to be a part of. You can read the Bible five times through but when you go and hear someone talk about what they see through the Word, it can open your eyes to a lot more. It\u2019s always good to get a different point of view.<\/p>\n

Bonham: How do you handle the pressure of big-time racing and still maintain your Christian witness?<\/p>\n

Hornish: I try not to talk about it too much because I don\u2019t want people to think that I\u2019ll never make a mistake and be that guy throwing a helmet at somebody else\u2019s car. But I\u2019ve tried to always be that guy that understands that people are going to make mistakes and realize that sometimes it\u2019s just not my day. I\u2019m not always going to take the high road but I\u2019ll always try to do that. There\u2019s a certain responsibility we have to these fans. Part of that for me is being a good Christian person and doing the right thing. It\u2019s about helping kids feel better by signing autographs. We\u2019re not just out here driving race cars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Click “Like” to share this with your friends! He won the Indianapolis 500 and two Indy Car championships. Then suddenly, Sam Hornish Jr., decided to follow the likes of Tony Stewart, Casey Mears and Juan Pablo Montoya into the very different world of stock car racing. Since then, he\u2019s found modest success at the NASCAR…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":418,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,382,388,5],"tags":[502,538,537,534,198,10,25,533,532,536,539,24,535],"class_list":["post-1101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christian-athletes","category-qa","category-racing","category-sports-features","tag-casey-mears","tag-indianapolis-500","tag-indy-car","tag-juan-pablo-montoya","tag-motor-racing-outreach","tag-nascar","tag-nationwide-series","tag-open-wheel-racing","tag-penske-racing","tag-roger-penske","tag-sam-hornish-jr","tag-sprint-cup","tag-tony-stewart"],"yoast_head":"\nA conversation with NASCAR driver and former Indy Car champion Sam Hornish Jr. - Inspiring Athletes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2011\/09\/a-conversation-with-nascar-driver-and-former-indy-car-champion-sam-hornish-jr.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A conversation with NASCAR driver and former Indy Car champion Sam Hornish Jr. - Inspiring Athletes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Click “Like” to share this with your friends! He won the Indianapolis 500 and two Indy Car championships. Then suddenly, Sam Hornish Jr., decided to follow the likes of Tony Stewart, Casey Mears and Juan Pablo Montoya into the very different world of stock car racing. 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Chad\u2019s professional journey began at the University of Tulsa where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (1993) while working extensively in athletic media relations and serving as a sports editor for The Collegian. Since then, he has written extensively for such publications as Relevant, CCM, Christian Retailing, New Man, Charisma, Today\u2019s Christian, Ministries Today, Breakaway, Brio, Sports Spectrum, Christian Single, Faith & Friends, Sharing the Victory and Gospel Today. He has authored, co-authored or ghost written and edited 13 books including Life in the Fairway (New Leaf Press), Glory of the Games (Cross Training), Wrestling with God (River Oak), Spiritual Journeys (Relevant) and the four-part Fellowship of Christian Athletes Core Value Series; Excellence, Teamwork, Serving and Integrity (Regal Books). Chad is currently working on five new books including Sooner Legacy, Husker Legacy and Lessons From Sooner Football (Cross Training) as well as The Faith of Stock Car Racing (Judson Press). When he's not writing, Chad lends his efforts to various independent television and film projects. He was the coordinating producer for Choosing Life (2010) and Life Happens (2011). Chad is currently serving as producer on a forthcoming documentary about Super Bowl champion Brian Kinchen. Chad and his wife Amy live in Broken Arrow, Okla., with sons Lance (September 2003), Cole (February 2008) and Quinn (February 2011).","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/author\/cbonham"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/418"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1101"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1101\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1647,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1101\/revisions\/1647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}