Aiming to improve on his 39th place performance in 2008, Sam Hornish Jr. lined the No. 77 AAA/Penske Truck Rental Dodge in the 26th position for the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at New Hampshire International Speedway.

Making his way up to the 13th spot by lap 100, the second year driver looked to be on his way to the strong finish that he was looking for. Pitting for tires, fuel and adjustments on the first round of green flag pit stops around lap 120, the No. 77 pit crew sent him back on the track in 14th.

Using strong pit stops, Hornish was able to slowly make his way up the leader board as the race came to an end. Running in eighth place on lap 267, rain began to fall forcing NASCAR to throw the yellow flag and ultimately call the race.

Hornish’s eighth place result marked his fourth top-10 effort of the 2009 season, and bumped him up one spot in the series point standings to 25th.

“We had a really good car today. The AAA/Penske Truck Rental Dodge ran real well,” Hornish said. ‘It’s just unfortunate we didn’t get to finish the race. I’m real proud of all the guys working on the car. We need to keep going out there and getting top fives and top 10s. Then we can win races.  We’ll keep working away at it. I’m really happy with what Penske Racing has been able to do this year. I think we’re going to have some real good days coming up here.”

Hornish intends to utilize his valiant accomplishment to earn another solid finish as NASCAR heads to Daytona International Speedway for the July 4th weekend. Crossing the finish line in 29th last season, Hornish should be able to upgrade last year’s act due to his improvement since his rookie season.

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