If Sam Hornish stays true to form, trusting team owner Roger Penske to all but make career decisions for him, the three-time Indy Racing League champion will be announced on Saturday night in Phoenix as the new third driver for Penske’s Nextel Cup team. Though Penske said Sunday a final decision would be made in next few days, he smiled, adding, “My inclination would be to go with him.” Penske said if Hornish goes to NASCAR, former IRL driver Ryan Briscoe, who has tested Indy cars for Penske, would move from the organization’s American Le Mans Series unit to team with Helio Castroneves. “Our goal from the beginning was to see if Sam wanted to run in this type of series,” Penske said. “Number two was to be able to conclude a project with a major sponsor.” With both conditions apparently answered to his satisfaction, Penske said it was not of concern that Hornish had failed to qualify in six attempts at his first Cup race and has an average finish of 31.6 in nine Busch series starts. Hornish will attempt both series, Penske said, in the final two weekends at Phoenix and Homestead. Penske could guarantee Hornish entry into the first six races of the 2008 season by applying teammate Kurt Busch’s 2007 owner points to his car. Busch would be assured entry into races with a past champion’s provisional if he failed to qualify on speed.(St Petersburg Times)(11-5-2007) UPDATE: Sam Hornish Jr. is leaving the IndyCar Series for a full-time ride in NASCAR, joining the mass exodus of open-wheel stars fleeing to America’s most popular racing series. The three-time IndyCar champion told The Associated Press he will drive the #77 Dodge next season for Penske Racing with Mobil 1 as the sponsor. “I feel like this is something that is a new and unique challenge for me,” Hornish said Thursday. “It may or may not be the right way to look at it, but I feel like I accomplished just about everything in Indy cars. I got to do more than I ever thought I would.” Penske will officially introduce Hornish as the third driver for his NASCAR team on Saturday night at the Penske Racing Museum in Phoenix. He’ll join a team that already fields cars for #2-Kurt Busch and #12-Ryan Newman. NASCAR rules currently guarantee a starting spot to the top 35 teams in owner points. It leaves just eight spots in the field each week for everyone else, and this season has been a horrendous struggle for many top-name drivers. Penske could ensure Hornish a spot in the field for the first five races of next season by moving the points currently owned by Busch. The 2004 series champion has a provisional that would lock him into the field should he fail to qualify on speed. Hornish said he wasn’t sure what Penske will do with the points, and a spokesman for the car owner said he was not available for comment Thursday. Hornish will again try to make his Cup debut this weekend. He’s entered in both the Nextel Cup and Busch Series races at Phoenix International Raceway, where he has two wins and three top-five finishes in Indy cars.(Associated Press)(11-8-2007)
