Hornish starting over again in 2014

GRIMES - The 2014 racing season has served as another reset on the career of NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Sam Hornish Jr.

After his most successful season to date in the Nationwide Series, a lack of sponsorship lost him his ride with Penske Racing, leaving him without a full-time ride, instead running a partial Nationwide schedule, sharing time in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54 with Kyle Busch.

With just more than a handful of races on his schedule - the first of which this season coming at Iowa Speedway on May 18 - the 2006 Indianapolis 500 winner has had to fill his time with some different things.

'It's been a lot of dad duties,” Hornish said on Thursday at an Iowa Speedway sponsor summit in Grimes. 'There's a lot of running around taking care of (my kids), and doing some other stuff. We've been working on doing some testing for (Joe Gibbs Racing).”

When any driver has such a limited amount of time in the car, the pressure to perform is certainly heightened.

It becomes even more so when the car they step into is one that is the favorite to win every week with Busch behind the wheel. As a result, Hornish likely will be the favorite to win heading into the May 18 race at Iowa Speedway - where Hornish looked well on his way to winning last August before a right front tire failure.

That said, Hornish knows he can't be selfish with his time in the 54 car, as the team is running for much more than wins.

'That's really the tough thing about where I'm at this year, is the balancing act of trying to make the most out of it but also remembering that it's not a win-at-all-costs event,” Hornish said. 'Because we're trying to win the owner's championship. I'm going to go out there and try to win all seven races, but I'm also going to be smart about it and know when you can win it and know when to take care of the equipment and battle another day.”

This year, then, becomes an audition for Hornish.

Perform well in a car that has the highest expectations in the series, and it could mean big things. Struggle, and who knows?

'I feel like it's an audition year for a lot of things,” Hornish said. 'Hopefully it's more than just a part-time, one-year deal. But that being said, I haven't gotten my chance to debut yet, so it's a lot of speculation at this point. I feel like, if things go the way I think they're going to go, hopefully I'd be able to run full-time for them next year. Or at least part-time and get it up to 14 races or something.”

The three-time IndyCar champion (2001, 2002, 2006) is no stranger to hitting the reset button on his career, either.

He was out of a Sprint Cup ride after 2010 and spent 2011 doing a part-time schedule for Penske in the Nationwide Series, then secured a full-time ride for 2012 and 2013 because of his performance. Before that, he ran partial schedules in the IndyCar Series before landing a full-time ride with Panther Racing in 2001 - the year he won his first IndyCar title.

Being able to bounce back from adversity and come out better for it is something Hornish takes pride in, and is what he believes will carry him to success again.

'I've been in this situation before,” Hornish said. 'Maybe that's made everything a lot easier for me, maybe (doing a partial schedule with Gibbs) is going to make me look like a fool in the end because it won't turn out like it did. Two times so far, by being smart and being patient and being in the right position, it worked out for me. All I can do is roll the dice and hope that playing the position I have in the past will play out again.”

It's easy to wonder why such an accomplished driver would run a partial schedule instead of returning to the discipline that took him to the pinnacle of auto racing.

But unlike Juan Pablo Montoya, who returned to IndyCar this year after eight years in stock cars, Hornish has no desire - at this point - to go back.

He had ambitions and goals he set for himself when he left IndyCar for NASCAR, and he wants to see those through.

'I haven't done what I originally set out to do,” Hornish said. 'And I may not ever do it, but until that's accomplished, I don't know the point of doing anything else. I like the challenge this sport provides.

'The IndyCar side, I love it … and I love hearing about it from the fans, but you've got to be passionate about what you do, and this is what I'm passionate about. I won't say that I won't ever go back to IndyCar, but for me, the passion for that just isn't really there at this point.”

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