Hornish

SPARTA, Ky. -- Sam Hornish Jr. had more on his mind than winning Sunday's IRL Belterra Casino Indy 300 at Kentucky Speedway.

The two-time defending Indy Racing League champion won his first race of the season and increased his career victory total to nine in the series.

While he accomplished a short-term goal by getting back to victory lane this season, Hornish is close to making a decision on his racing future, narrowing the list to three possibilities.

Those included accepting a new contract with his current Panther Racing team, signing with another team in the IRL, or taking an offer with a NASCAR Winston Cup team.

"I love racing and I want to drive race cars, but as far as what is going to make me happy in life, I have to go home and really think about it," Hornish said. "It will be a team out of the top three that gets my pick.

"It would be somewhat accurate to say Panther Racing, another IRL team and a NASCAR team are among my top three picks."

Hornish announced on Monday that he would not be returning to Panther Racing, but he did not announce his intentions for 2004.

One IRL team that admitted it was out of the running was Target/Chip Ganassi Racing, according to the team's managing director, Mike Hull.

"We met with Sam's agent earlier and he wanted $3 million for the first year of the contract," Hull said. "The discussion didn't go past that. We told him that we don't pay any of our drivers $3 million a year.

"In this series, you have to put that kind of money back into the team in order to be successful and competitive."

	Sam Hornish Jr. has already won two Indy Racing League championships.

Pedigo said he was confident Panther Racing could match any offer any IRL team could make to acquire the talented 24-year-old driver from Defiance, Ohio.

"If anybody thinks we are going to lay down and let somebody have him, they are dead wrong," Pedigo said before Monday's announcement. "That's not going to happen. We can match anyone else's offer.

"I think most people assume that there are people in the IRL that have resources that can benefit Sam more than we do, and that's just not the case. When it comes to Sam, we will be as competitive as anybody in the IRL."

Penske Racing admitted Hornish is an incredible talent and would fit in perfectly with the winningest team in Indy car history, but both of their drivers -- defending Indianapolis 500 winner Gil de Ferran and two-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves -- are signed for next season.

Team president Tim Cindric said Penske would not field a three-car team, which would be the only way it could add Hornish to the lineup next season.

"If we had an opening, I'd take him," Cindric said. "Roger Penske would take him, too."

Another possibility has Hornish signing with Newman/Haas -- a team currently in CART which would then field a team in the IRL with Hornish as the driver. Also, Caponigro has discussed the possibility of Hornish signing with Andretti Green Racing, but sources indicated team co-owner Kevin Savoree said that probably wasn't going to happen.

Hornish said he will announce his decision by the end of August. If things go well at Monday's meeting, it could come this week.

"Whether it's in NASCAR or the IRL, the people we've talked to have all been first-class organizations," Hornish said. "The deals are all hard to turn down. If you market yourself right, that's where you need to be.

"It would be a shame to turn down a good deal, because there are so many years you go as a good driver where you don't have a good deal, then you get four or five good deals and you can only stick to one."

At one time, Hornish was being courted by Dale Earnhardt, Inc. in NASCAR to be part of a combined Busch Series and Winston Cup schedule for one season before moving into Winston Cup full-time the following year.

Since then, however, team president Ty Norris said he believed Hornish's heart was really in Indy car racing, more than joining the stock car series.

"When I started talking to DEI, it was stuff that was a ways down the road," Hornish said. "I started talking to them in 2001, and here we are two years later. It's not like something came together.

"We've talked to people for the past two years. You want to hear everybody out, what they have to say. That's the only way to be fair to yourself, is to hear all the opportunities that are available."

Hornish said he has talked to Winston Cup team owner Rick Hendrick about a ride with his NASCAR operation, but did not indicate whether it was on the top of his list.

"There are quite a few people that we have talked to, which is why it's hard to turn down good opportunities," Hornish said.

The driver also said if Roger Penske, the winningest team owner in Indianapolis 500 history with 13 victories, offered him a ride, it would be hard to turn him down.

"I imagine it would be," Hornish said. "We've talked to just about every top organization over here. It's a pretty tough decision to make, and it's hard because you have all these good organizations and then you've already got one you are working with, too.

	“	I have to do what the right thing is for me. I want to do what will move me from being a champion to something more than that. The only way you can do that is to win more races, win more championships and hopefully, someday, win the Indianapolis 500. ”
		— Sam Hornish Jr.

"What I'm doing right now with Panther Racing is in the top three of the offers I'm considering," Hornish said before Monday's decision. "They put a pretty good offer on the table. I know what their offer is. That offer was made at the beginning of the year."

Hornish said he would wait and see how everything shook out and what he was doing in terms of race wins, championships and how he was meshing with the team.

"I have to do what the right thing is for me," Hornish said. "I want to do what will move me from being a champion to something more than that. The only way you can do that is to win more races, win more championships and hopefully, someday, win the Indianapolis 500."

At such a young age, Hornish is prepared to make the decision that will chart the course for the remainder of his career. He realizes that decision has a lot of ramifications, but he is prepared to take the chosen path that could take him to the highest levels of racing excellence.

"You start off as an amateur, then you move up to professional, then you become a race winner, then a champion and someday, you want to become a legend," Hornish said. "You want to position yourself for that.

"I want to be racing for a long time, so you have to make decisions that will be the best for the next three years or the next 10 years or however long it takes. It's not a decision of where the money is at, it's a decision on what will give me the opportunity to win and do the things I want to do."