Hornish hopes to turn charm into top dog status

The 25-year-old hopes to snap Americans' drought in Indianapolis.
By MICHAEL MAROT
ASSOCIATED PRESS
INDIANAPOLIS -- Sam Hornish Jr. already has the clean-cut image, the good looks and the charm. All he needs now is a major victory.
The 25-year-old driver starts the Indianapolis 500 carrying a heavy burden -- the next big American hope in open-wheel racing.
"I've always been an underdog," Hornish said. "So that's always good when you have people cheering for me, and I don't mind that pressure."
Hornish is among a large group of U.S. drivers who have struggled recently in Indianapolis.
Americans like Foyt, Mears, Unser, Rutherford and Sneva dominated Indy car racing from the 1960s through the 1980s. But no American-born driver has won the race since Eddie Cheever in 1998, two years after the Indy Racing League was founded with the goal of developing young American drivers.
The only other Americans who have driven into Victory Lane at the Brickyard since 1989 are Buddy Lazier ('96), Al Unser Jr. ('92 and '94) and Rick Mears ('91).
Longest streak
The five-year drought without an American winner is the longest streak in Indy 500 history and has coincided with a noticeable decrease in fan interest. Attendance at practice and qualifying days has dropped dramatically over the past decade.
The dearth of U.S. drivers stems in part from the defection of some of open-wheel racing's top prospects to NASCAR. About a dozen top names, including Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Robby Gordon, have switched from the open-wheel series to stock cars in the past decade.
Cheever, who grew up in Europe, believes Americans have been held back by their interest in other sports and the lack of a strong Indy car developmental series.
"I think in other countries they are so competitive at such a young age," Cheever said. "When they finish carting, they're almost ready to do this. That's why you have so many Brazilians doing well here."
International flavor
The Indy 500 has always had an international flavor, though. Foreign-born drivers won every race from 1913-16, and three races in the 1960s.
This year, nine countries are represented in the 33-car starting field, and drivers from England, Scotland, Brazil and Mexico are among the top six qualifiers. The only American in the first two rows is pole-winner Buddy Rice.
Hornish, who starts 11th, and Roger Yasukawa, who starts 12th, are the only other Americans starting in the first five rows.
But Mears, Penske's driving coach, believes competition -- not a driver's nationality -- is the issue.
"When everyone has a helmet on, I don't know if they're American, Brazilian or whatever," said the four-time Indy winner. "I just wanted to beat the best, whoever that is."
Cheever believes it will take patience and a new kind of thinking for Americans to reclaim their dominance in the Indy car series.
"We're creating great NASCAR drivers and have some awesome oval drivers here," he said. "American drivers need to get their act together and be prepared. I think there is a big push now to develop open-wheel racers here."
Hornish is the front man for that effort.
His resume includes two IRL points titles, a league-record 12 race wins, five poles and more than $7 million in earnings. But in four starts at Indianapolis, he has struggled with inferior equipment, underfinanced teams and bad luck. His best finish, in 2001, was 14th, and he has yet to complete all 200 laps.
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.