The exodus continues; another hit to Open Wheel.......... IndyCar champ Hornish moves to NASCAR By JENNA FRYER, AP Auto Racing Writer Thu Nov 8, 10:38 AM ET 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 No. 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 Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman. He'll join Juan Pablo Montoya, Dario Franchitti and Jacques Villeneuve as former Indianapolis 500 winners and IndyCar series champions now racing in NASCAR's top series. Patrick Carpentier is also moving to NASCAR after a long open-wheel career, and AJ Allmendinger fled Champ Cars for NASCAR this season. Scott Speed, who spent the last two years in Formula One, has also migrated to stock cars and will drive in the low-level ARCA Series next year to prepare for NASCAR. Hornish, last year's Indianapolis 500 winner, has been leaning toward moving to NASCAR for some time. But his struggles in making races he's failed to qualify for all six Cup races he's entered had led many to speculate he might stick with IndyCars another year. But the failure has made him want it more. Although he called choosing NASCAR "one of the more difficult decisions" he's ever had to make, Hornish said he has faith he can adapt to stock cars. "There are so many things that I have elected to do that are a lot easier," he said. "But I've tried to qualify for these Cup races, and it's kind of lit a little bit of fire in me to see if we can't get to the point where I am competitive. "I am a much better racer than I am a qualifier, and if I can just get in, I feel confident I can figure it out." 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. But Hornish said making the first five races of 2008 will be critical to his success, and pointed to Montoya as proof. The former F1 star inherited a team locked into the top 35 and didn't have to worry about making races at the start of the season, and Hornish believes that accelerated Montoya's adjustment. "People always ask me why Montoya has been so successful, and the easy thing to say is because he had the points," Hornish said. "He had those first five races and he was automatically guaranteed to get that seat time. "So if Roger wants to give me Kurt's points, I'm not going to tell him no. I'll take whatever I can get." Franchitti, the reigning IndyCar and Indy 500 champ, is also inheriting a team inside the top 35. Carpentier and Villeneuve will both start the season outside, as will Allmendinger, who has been outside the top 35 all season and has qualified for just 17 of 34 races this year. 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. He made his NASCAR debut at Phoenix last season in the Busch race, finishing 36th.
That was the plan all along, but I guess nobody remembered it. Sam was slated to take over the Rusty Wallace seat, it just got pushed back a couple of years. I may be wrong, but I think there is more overall money in nascar racing than any other form of racing except for F1, of course. By that I mean the guy that is 10th, 20th, 30th in points in nascar makes more than the guy in the same positions in any other form of racing. Yes, there are a lot more races, but I'm talking total money, not money-per-event.
I think he'll do quite well at Penske alongside Kurt and Ryan. I guess for the most part I'm curious to see what his strongest tracks will be driving a stockcar. Also a bit off the subject, but I wonder if Danica Patrick will ever change over to NASCAR?
Yeah, that makes sense. When it boils down to it, that's what it's all about. On another note, speaking of NASCAR I wish it would go back to the old rules, or change the chase rules. This would have been Jeff Gordon's 6th championship if it weren't for the new chase format. Kurt Busch would have finished 4th in 04. Jeff would have won the cup that year.
I believe you are correct, speaking in the USA of course. I think it was an interview with Dario Franchiti that mentioned the difference in pay between NASCAR and Indycar.
I guess Danica will finally win a race this upcoming season given that all the competition is leaving.
None that I know of, do you know of any ? I NEVER said she was leaving, I said she would go where the most money is: big difference. She is a racer, and TODAY, racers go where the most money is, and after doing that for a few years, they go where the longevity is (first), followed by money. 40 years ago racers could go where they wanted because there was no money in it, overall. Have you seen where the guy that is 40th in nascar points has made 2 mill so far this year ?
Folks leave every year, you still gotta win, nobody will hand it to you. The competition always stays the same, only the names change.
