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. AP.org
Hornish, 28, will leave the IndyCar Series as a three-time champion. He joined the Indy Racing League in 2000. He will drive the No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge for Penske Racing in NASCAR.
Hornish holds the IRL’s all-time win record with 19, and he added the crown jewel, the Indianapolis 500, to his list in 2006.
The Defiance, Ohio, native is just the latest former Indy winner to switch to NASCAR in the past year. In addition to Dario Franchitti, the 2007 race winner, Jacques Villeneuve (1995) and Juan Pablo Montoya (2000) plan to drive in Cup next season. Curt Cavin, AutoWeek.com
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