There's more to life than racing.
By Joseph Slacian

Sam Hornish Jr.'s mother believed he would one day become either a minister or a racecar driver.

"I chose the one that probably took a few years off her life," he joked while speaking Sunday, Feb. 11, to the congregation of Roann Church of the Brethren.

And while he's had success at racing--he's the defending pole sitter and champion of the Indianapolis 500 and a three-time Indy Racing League series champion--Hornish has not strayed from his belief in and love of God.

Hornish and his wife, Crystal, were guests at the Roann church, where Hornish brought the message for the congregation. Glen Whisler, interim pastor at the church, is lifelong friends with Hornish, having pastored at Poplar Ridge Church of the Brethren in Ohio, where the Hornish family attended while Sam was growing up.

Whisler baptized Hornish into the church when the future racing champion was 9, and officiated at his wedding to Crystal at the Scottish Rite Cathedral in Indianapolis in 2004.

"I don't remember ever missing church growing up except for the occasional family vacation," Hornish told the congregation. "We lived about 30 miles away the church and we made the drive every Sunday.

"And I remember that some of my friends never went to church, so I always tried to bring a friend whenever I could."

Hornish's weekly trips to church had a major change when he turned 11. For that is when his racing career began in earnest. What was supposed to be a five- or 10-weekend-a-year venture for him and his father, Sam Sr., soon blossomed into a 30-weekend-per-year event.

Though he was on the road most weekends at one race track or another, his love of God and his commitment to the church didn't waver.

"I would call my grandmother to see what the message was," Hornish said. "Or I'd listen to a service on the radio. Or my Dad would have me read a passage from the Bible. I always had a Bible with me; I always carried a small one in my bag."

As with most youngsters, as he grew into a teenager, Hornish had trouble motivating himself to go to weekly church service. He would want to sleep in on Sunday mornings, but knew church was important and went to service.

"Teenagers usually stay up late on Saturday night playing video games, watching movies and doing other things," he said. "Go ahead and do those things. But make sure you wake up and get to church the next morning. That's truly the important thing in life."

Teens today face a variety of temptations, Hornish said. Some are major temptations that face everyone; other temptations are minor, such as wanting to sleep in on Sunday mornings.

No one is perfect, he said. Sometimes the teens, like anyone else, make a right decision; other times they make wrong decisions.

"God doesn't care if you make the right decision all the time," he said. "But what he is concerned about is that when you do the wrong thing, you learn from it and try to improve the next time you face that challenge."

As an adult, Hornish continues his devotion to the church, even while at the race track. On race days, he's got a morning filled with commitments of sponsor- and team-related activities. But the commitments don't stop him from attending one of the church services held for the drivers and team members on race day.

Some may wonder why, with a race just hours away, he would spend time in church, he said.

"That's the time I can sit there and not think about racing," he said. "I can go to the service and spend one half hour thinking about God and thinking about my family, the important things in my life."

The church services are sponsored by the Indy Racing League Ministries, which travels with the series to every racing venue at which the league runs. The Hornishes are members of the group's board of directors, bringing what Hornish calls a young person's perspective to the group.

The ministry program brings church services for the drivers and the crews, but it does more than that, both at and away from the track.

At the track, in addition to the church services, pastors go from garage to garage, asking drivers if they want to pray. Most drivers do, he said.

"And there's something we don't like to talk about," Hornish said. "The pastors are there to console the drivers' families in case of an emergency."

Away from the track, the program seeks to help those in the cities where the races take place.

Food left over at the hospitality tents at the race track are taken by ministry representatives to homeless shelters, helping to provide warm food for those there.

It also oversees the "Soap for Hope" program.

"The teams stay at so many hotels during the year," Hornish said. "And, you know, you get the little bars of soap and bottles of shampoo in the room. Even if you don't use it, they throw it away.

"So we take the soap and shampoo to shelters to help them out."

Following the service, Hornish posed for pictures and signed autographs for congregation members. He also met a cousin who lives in North Manchester and a gentleman who worked for Hornish's father at his trucking company several years ago.

--Joseph Slacian is managing editor of the "Wabash (Ind.) Plain Dealer." This article originally appeared in the Feb. 11 issue of the Plain Dealer and is reprinted with permission.

Source: 2/14/2007 Newsline