There is no guarantee that Sam Hornish Jr. will be driving a stock car next season for Roger Penske.
As it stands, Penske has two solid cup programs. With the addition of Shell/Pennzoil, Kurt Busch is now moving into the #22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge and Brad Keselowski will be taking over the #2 Miller Lite Dodge. The concern of the fans after the addition of Shell/Pennzoil was that Penske was losing Miller Lite. No, that is not the case. Great move by Roger.
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[/media-credit]Now, to the Hornish issue. Penske is in a huge dilemma when it comes to Hornish, who is currently his third Sprint Cup Series driver. Mobil 1 has moved on to greener pastures and has moved to Stewart-Haas Racing and two-time champion, Tony Stewart. If sponsorship fails to come about, then Hornish will probably be driving a fourth entry for Penske in the Indianapolis 500. Hornish won the race in 2006 in an amazing photo finish with Marco Andretti.
There is one thing that is clear and that is Hornish will be running the Daytona 500, but from there it is uncertain. Running in the Nationwide Series is also an idea that Penske hasn’t passed up for Hornish. His teammate Kurt Busch weighed in, “We have yet to decide what’s going on with the 77, whether it’s full-time or part-time,” Busch said. “Roger loves Sam. I like Sam, too. He’s a great guy, he’s never done me wrong, he’s always treated me well, and Roger likes to take care of him. Roger’s a good guy like that.”
Like a lot of teams in NASCAR, Penske layed off approximately 50 employees yesterday and the sign of economic instability has never been any clearer to the fans.
