Hornish confirms he'll try for Daytona 500

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Defending Indy Racing League champion Sam Hornish Jr., three days after scoring a stunning last-minute victory at the NASCAR stronghold of Richmond International Raceway, said he hopes to race in the 2003 Daytona 500.

The driver who won his first Indy car title last year at 22 said he has big goals in the sport, namely winning its biggest open-wheel and stock-car races.

Hornish, who turned 23 Tuesday, last week was linked to a possible Winston Cup foray through a story in the Indianapolis Star that included statements from Dale Earnhardt, Inc. executive vice president Ty Norris.

	Sam Hornish celebrates after winning Saturday night's IRL race at Richmond. Credit: AP

DEI is a three-car Winston Cup team that includes the Pennzoil Chevrolet currently driven by Steve Park. Hornish, a native of Bryan, Ohio, drives a Pennzoil-sponsored Indy car fielded by Panther Racing.

Hornish said Tuesday morning that he would like to run "selected races" in 2002 to prepare him for the 2003 season-opener at Daytona International Speedway.

While he said he has been interested in racing stock cars for quite some time, Hornish's startling second-place finish last February at Daytona in the True Value International Race of Champions opened his eyes, along with a lot of others in the sport.

"I've said since I joined the IRL that I wanted to run the Daytona 500," Hornish said. "There are only two drivers who have won both the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500. To be able to put your name up alongside A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti would be a pretty neat thing."

"Based on his IROC experience and his experience in open-wheel competition," NASCAR vice president for corporate communications Jim Hunter said Tuesday, "Sam Hornish would very likely be eligible to run the Daytona 500."

The last full-time Indy car driver to compete in the Daytona 500 was Al Unser Jr., who drove a Hendrick Motorsports entry in 1993 and finished 36th.

Since then former IRL champion Tony Stewart has been the most notable open wheeler to make the move to Winston Cup, while drivers such as Davy Jones, Scott Pruett and Jason Leffler -- for a variety of reasons -- have not succeeded.

"He'll have to go through the normal process of submitting a resume, as everyone else does," Hunter said.

Despite winning six races in little more than two seasons in the IRL, he has not come close to winning the May classic at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

"I am just focused on trying to win Indy car races right now," Hornish said. "Yeah, (down the road) I am trying to be able to do more than one thing -- trying to see if I can do it, more for myself than any other reason."

Hornish, who has only three starts in his career in full-bodied cars -- two of them this season in IROC and one in a Porsche SuperCup race last season in conjunction with the U.S. Grand Prix at Indianapolis -- seemed familiar with NASCAR's procedures.

"I think running those (IROC) cars showed me that I can do it," he said. "It showed me that I have a little bit of skill with those kinds of cars.

"In order to do the Daytona 500 you have to do a couple other races first, and maybe a couple Busch races. I'm talking about two to three Cup races to start. Depending on how I do in the first one will depend on what I do next.

"I might do a total of six races, combined (in the two series) in the total year, if I like it at all (but) my focus is on the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400."

Hornish was less clear on who he might do the planned races with, though he did confirm he had been in discussions with DEI.

"Ummm, we don't have anything set in stone -- nothing signed -- but that's my plan," Hornish said. "(I want) to get in there and figure out what it's all about (Daytona 500) next year and be able to make a serious run at it in 2004."

Hornish, who has won three IRL races this season and moved to within 24 points of series leader Helio Castroneves after the Richmond victory, low-keyed his sponsor's involvement in a twisted plot in which 2002 is the final year in Park's current contract.

"Their final voice hasn't been heard, but I would love for them to be involved," Hornish said. "If they don't, we won't hold that against them.

"They have told me if I want to get involved in other things in racing they'll be behind me 100 percent and they'll support me as much as they can."

Hornish maintains that his primary commitment is to the IRL and his current team. His program with Panther runs through the end of the 2003 season and he is currently involved in negotiating an extension.

"When you run good and win races people want you to drive for them," Hornish said. "But the loyalty factor means quite a bit to me and I am trying not to play that (ongoing discussions with DEI) against (Panther).

"I want to win the Indianapolis 500 -- that's my major goal in racing and I plan on sticking around until I get that accomplished. Who knows -- maybe I'd retire after I did that.

"In my career I have learned that I need to try not to make any rash decisions (and) not to turn anything down without looking at all the pros and cons. There is more money available in NASCAR, maybe, but you give up all your free time."