Hornish hoping luck changes

? Sam Hornish Jr. believes he can control 95 percent of what it takes to win races in the IndyCar series. The other five percent is giving him trouble this season.

“That other five percent is luck, not necessarily luck as in the horseshoe, but not being involved in other people’s problems and being in the right place at the right time,” Hornish said Friday after his first practice laps for Sunday’s race at The Milwaukee Mile. “We just didn’t have that at the beginning of the season.”

After taking the series championship in 2001 and 2002 and winning three races last year, Hornish comes into the Menards A.J. Foyt Indy 225 with just one victory in 2004 and no poles. The 25-year-old driver is in fifth place in the series standings, 125 points behind leader Tony Kanaan with eight races to go.