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Hornish returning to Indy as novice

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NASCAR

Date published: 7/25/2008

BY JIM McCONNELL

Sam Hornish Jr. returns this weekend to the site of his greatest professional triumph, the 2006 Indianapolis 500.

Much has changed, however, since that May afternoon when he passed Marco Andretti on the final lap to win the world's most prestigious automobile race.

Most notably, Hornish no longer drives open-wheel cars. He left Roger Penske's IndyCar operation at the end of the 2007 season to pilot Penske's new No. 77 NASCAR Sprint Cup team.

As a NASCAR rookie, he's no longer one of the biggest fish in a relatively small pond. He rarely runs with the leaders and measures progress in learning a little bit more about stock cars every time he fires up his engine.

But while he acknowledged he's "a long shot" to become the first driver to win both the Indy 500 and Brickyard 400, Hornish insisted he has no regrets about his career choices.

"We knew it was going to be tough; that's why I wanted to do it," Hornish said during a teleconference earlier this week. "It was nice over in the IRL when you felt like you could win every day, but I just felt like I wasn't getting as challenged as much as I needed to anymore.

"This was going to be something that I wanted to do for the next 10 years and to keep me occupied and focused at what I was doing. Even with the frustrations and things that haven't been good, it's been good for us."

Interestingly, Hornish has been at his best this season in the biggest races. He finished a surprising 15th at the Daytona 500, then added a career-best 13th-place effort in the Coca-Cola 600.

In the other 17 events, he compiled more finishes of 35th or worse (seven) than 20th or better (two)leaving him 33rd in points as the Cup series makes its annual stop at the hallowed 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

ALLSTATE 400 AT THE BRICKYARD WHEN: Sunday, 1 p.m. WHERE: Indianapolis Motor Speedway TV: ESPN RADIO: WFLS-FM 93.3 DEFENDING CHAMP: Tony Stewart POLE QUALIFYING: Tomorrow, 10 a.m. (ESPN2)

Date published: 7/25/2008