Sam Hornish Jr. thought about dropping in on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this month, to visit with all the his former teammates preparing for open-wheel racing's biggest event. Then the IndyCar champion turned stock-car driver realized what a stir he would cause, and decided against it.

“

The steady progress that he's made is definitely something that we were looking forward to. I think that his crew chief, Travis Geisler, is settling in with Sam and finding that groove.

”

-- KURT BUSCH

"I finally got everybody to stop asking me when I was going to go back to IndyCars, so I figured it probably wouldn't be smart," Hornish said, laughing. "It's going to bring all that stuff back up again. So as much as I'd like to go and see all the guys, most of my friends there work on the Penske team or work for one of the IndyCar teams I drove for. In reality, as much as it would be fun to go talk to some of those guys, I can go see them at the shop."

And besides, this month Hornish has more pressing plans -- like trying to build on what's shaping up as the most promising stint of his short NASCAR career. He's still a distant 31st in driver points, still capable of nights like the one he suffered through two weeks ago at Darlington, where he spun out again and again and again. But top-10 finishes at Phoenix and Richmond, practice and qualifying runs where his No. 77 Dodge clocks in closer to the front of the field than the back, and a growing sense of confidence leave the 2006 Indianapolis 500 winner with no doubts that he made the right career choice.

"I've been telling people all year that we've got top-10s around the corner, we've got top-fives around the corner," he said. "But until you start getting out there and doing it, nobody believes you."

They believed after the April 18 race at Phoenix, where Hornish came up from a 35th-place starting position to finish ninth, at the time the best result of his two-year Sprint Cup career. Two weeks later at Richmond, he bettered that with a sixth-place finish. Add in top-five qualifying efforts at Talladega and Darlington, solid practice runs at places like Daytona, California, and Las Vegas, and it's no wonder the Penske camp believes the 29-year-old Ohio native is about to turn the corner. (Continued)