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closeIndyCar champ Sam Hornish appears to be headed NASCAR's way with Penske
JIM UTTER
The Charlotte Observer
Sunday, Jul. 01, 2007
LOUDON, N.H. – A full-time move to NASCAR for reigning IndyCar Series champion Sam Hornish Jr. seems all but certain now.
Hornish, a three-time series champion and former Indianapolis 500 winner, is expected to join the Nextel Cup Series full-time next season with Penske Racing South, The Charlotte Observer has learned.
The Observer first reported Hornish’s likely move to Cup in the 2008 season last fall. Penske already has a primary sponsor in place to field a team for Hornish, sources said Sunday. The likely company is Mobile 1, an associate sponsor on Penske’s two current Cup cars that has sponsored Hornish’s Busch Series entries this season.
Asked Sunday if Hornish could move into a third Cup car next season, team president Don Miller said nothing had been decided. Team owner Roger Penske has discounted the possibility in recent weeks.
Hornish, a 27-year-old native of Defiance, Ohio, entered two Busch races last season and has been running a mixed schedule of Busch and Automobile Racing Club of America series races this year for Penske with mixed success. His best Busch finish was 15th at Atlanta.
Hornish seemed somewhat disillusioned by the Indy Racing League in comments following Saturday night’s IndyCar Series race at Richmond, Va.
“You feel like they don’t need you sometimes,” Hornish told the PA SportsTicker. “They’ve got their stars. That’s another reason why you might want to do something else.
“It has to be something the team wants to do one way or another. There are lots of variables. I don’t want to go over there and run and if we’re not in The Chase and I get dropped.”
Saturday’s night IndyCar Series winner, Dario Franchitti, appears resigned to the fact Hornish is leaving open-wheel racing.
“Sam has to do what is right for him,” Franchitti told the PA SportsTicker.
“If he doesn’t come back and by the sound of it he’s going to NASCAR, that’s what he thinks is right for him. He’s won a load of championships, he’s won the Indy 500 and they will find somebody else to fill his car.”