It's official: Hornish to NASCAR.

All I can say about it is...Crap.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071108/SPORTS01/711080532

Sam Hornish Jr. joins NASCAR, will drive Penske car
By Curt Cavin
curt.cavin@indystar.com

Sam Hornish Jr. has finally confirmed he's going to NASCAR.

Following fellow Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti, Hornish said today he has elected to leave the IndyCar Series, which he has won three times, for what will soon be known as the Sprint Cup.

Hornish will drive the No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge of Penske Racing.

"I feel like this is something that is a new and unique challenge for me," Hornish told the Associated Press.

"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," said Hornish, who has won 19 races, the most of any Indy Racing League driver.

Penske will officially introduce Hornish as the third driver for his NASCAR team on Saturday night at the Penske Racing Museum in Scottsdale, Ariz. Hornish will join Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman on the team.

Hornish has not said if he will participate in next year's Indy 500.

Hornish is just the latest former Indy winner to switch to NASCAR in the past year. In addition to Franchitti, the 2007 race winner, Jacques Villeneuve (1995) and Juan Pablo Montoya (2000) plan to drive in Cup next season.

Patrick Carpentier is also moving to NASCAR after a long open-wheel career, and AJ Allmendinger left the Champ Car World Series for NASCAR earlier 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 has been preparing to move to NASCAR for most of the year, although his failure to qualify for any of his six Cup races this season led to speculation he might return to Indy cars for 2008.

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 told AP. "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 the rest of the competitors.

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 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.

Call Star reporter Curt Cavin at (317) 444-6409.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.