In the midst of the final
weekend of the NASCAR season, team owner Roger Penske confirmed yesterday that
Sam Hornish, Jr. will return in 2013 to drive a full schedule of events on the
NASCAR Nationwide Series, in addition to a partial slate on the NASCAR Sprint
Cup Series.
“We've signed Sam up to
drive the #12 Alliance car in Nationwide next year,” said Penske Friday. “We
have a commitment for a number of Cup races on a third car, and Sam will be
there to run those races.”
Hornish is currently fourth in
the Nationwide championship chase, 107 behind leader Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. He has also done yeoman work in Penske’s No.
22 Sprint Cup Series Dodge, replacing AJ Allmendinger at midseason after
Allmendinger was suspended for failing a random test for banned substances. Despite enjoying the most successful year of
his NASCAR career and contending for the Nationwide title, the former Indy Car
remained unsigned late in the season, due to a lack of available sponsorship.
In a related story, Penske
said third-generation driver Ryan Blaney is under consideration to drive the
No. 29 Brad Keselowski Racing Camping World Truck Series entry next season
“We haven't announced it yet,
it's not a done deal, but we'd like to see him in the truck,” said Penske. “We'll
also provide him some Nationwide rides. We started with him running two or
three (times) this year, and I think he'll end up with seven or eight.
“We think he's a fine young
man,” Penske said. “He's got a lot to learn like they all do, but I think he's
certainly coming from a family that's been racing, and he seems to have the
talent. There's a lot of good young talent out there today, so we certainly
want to support him."
Photo: Chris Graythen/Getty Images
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