Roger Penske hopes to name a driver for his #22 NASCAR Sprint Cup entry [will be Ford] for the 2013 season before the Chase for the Sprint Cup begins at Chicago on Sept. 16. ‘I ‘ve got five or six people that have contacted us,’ Penske said prior to the Finger Lakes 355 at The Glen on Sunday. ‘We ‘re going to see how Sam (Hornish Jr.) does. We have a certain amount of loyalty to him. We ‘re trying to assess where we ‘re at.’ Penske says he’s pleased with Hornish’s progress in the #22 Dodge. Hornish replaced AJ Allmendinger on July 7 after Allmendinger tested positive for amphetamine. Hornish has posted two top-20 finishes in the Cup car. His best result was 16th at Indianapolis. Several free agents have been mentioned as candidates for the ride, including Joey Logano and Ryan Newman, who drove for Penske prior to joining Stewart-Haas Racing in 2009. As far Logano, who has been mentioned as a top candidate for the seat, Penske mentioned that the 22-year-old remains under contract to Joe Gibbs Racing.(FoxSports)(8-12-2012)
UPDATE: Joey Logano appears to be the leading candidate to replace AJ Allmendinger at Penske Racing next year, but team owner Roger Penske says he has made no decision yet. Penske has had a couple of weeks to talk to candidates for the ride, but said Sunday he has made no decision. Logano has driven the last four years for Joe Gibbs Racing but the organization has not been able to put sponsorship together to keep him in a Cup car for 2013. Gibbs is expected to announce soon that it has hired Matt Kenseth to replace Logano in the #20 car for next season. Team officials have said they would like to keep Logano but fielding a full-time Cup car for him would depend on finding sponsorship to start a fourth team.
Ryan Newman and Brian Vickers also have been mentioned as possible candidates for the ride, but Newman has said he is focused on staying with Stewart-Haas Racing and the team is working on sponsorship for next season.(Sporting News)(8-14-2012)
