Hornish will leave Panther Racing at the end of the year

[Down F0rce]

Sam Hornish jr announced today that he will be be leaving Panther Racing at the end of this year. At the end of this month, he will be announcing his plans for 2004. I can only hope he's planning on staying in Indycar racing...

Full story

[marcus]

I doubt he would move to another team ???
I mean why would he , panther a right up there with the best of them , so a switch to another team may nbot be what is going on.

maybe its time that Sam is leaving the IRL to take up Nascar ???

who knows but it will be sad to see him go (if indeed thats what he is doing)

I too hope he stays but really it looks as though hes going.

[rush1]

Uh oh, here we go again. Not going to Penske. The only teams that have the resources to sign him would be Ganassi or AGR. Maybe Childress can work someting out to keep him in the IRL, or sign him up for NASCAR.

[Jordi]

Dale Earnhardt Inc.'s #1 Pennzoil car, given the connection?

Seems the only motorsports where drivers drive and retire are F1 and NASCAR....

He won't be going to DEI i don't think,but he should be staying in the IRL i just hope the put J.J. Yeley in his seat this is a good chance for him.

[climb]

Andretti is rumoured to hire him; should Childress enter IRl would be ok, too; I just hope he will stay, one way or another.

[Down F0rce]

Actually, if Franchitti was to leave to go back to CART for 2004, that would leave no-one for the 27 car...so maybe Sam is heading for there. But I don't see why he would leave, Panther are the best in Indycar right now...my guess is that he's off to NASCAR. Unless he signs with Childress's new team, and just runs the Daytona 500 and the full Indycar schedule.

[climb]

Sometimes, when you get the best throughout a long period, you may feel "too good", and search for tougher situations that give you more motivations: that's the only reason why leaving Panther, unless a huge amount of money has been offered to him by other teams.

[rustyfan]

Although I'm surprised to see him leave, I also find it rather intersting - high-profile transfers have a tendency to shake up the "market".

This is the second high-profile move announced in the past couple of days (after Burns' announced move back to Subaru for the 2004 WRC season) - I wonder what's in store for us before the year is over

[BootsOntheSide]

I think he'll be heading for NASCAR, the gap in the #1 Pennzoil NASCAR must lo9ok tempting for him. He'd find it tough at first as he has no experience of the Busch series or anything, but I'm sure he could do the job.

I don't see him at AGR - I expect Bryan will be the first chocie to take a fulltime ride of Dario leaves, and Dan's done nothign to suggest that he'll get axed.

It'd be another indication fo the extent to which NASCAR rules the roost in America.

[rustyfan]

Keep in mind that the #1 Pennzoil Chevrolet is currently just the #1 Chevrolet in 2004 - DEI haven't signed a replacement sponsor for Pennzoil (who are leaving at the end of this year) yet.

Something tells me they won't have too much of a problem finding a replacement though.

[racer69]

I don't think he'd be with a Childress IRL effort, considering that the Childress effort was mentioned as being in conjunction with Panther.

I wouldn't rule out a third Penske, just because they say they won't run a third car, doesn't really mean anything.

He could wind up at AGR, i'd say the reason he left Panther was that they couldn't afford his money demands for next year.

Next question, who will replace him at Panther? Hopefully an American

[BSchneiderFan]

Originally posted by Down F0rce
But I don't see why he would leave, Panther are the best in Indycar right now...

Debatable. Granted, they've been hobbled by the old Chevy engine, but I would argue that Penske, Ganassi and AGR (and maybe Kelley too) are at least as good, and, certainly in the case of Penske and AGR, better funded. Maybe Hornish got sick of a one-car team. I wouldn't be surprised to see him take the Franchitti/Herta seat, or drive a third Penske (I know, I know...).

I just hope he doesn't f**k off to the Nextel Cup.

[Tim Northcutt]

Indy Star reports that Sam may want to run select events in both NASCAR & IRL...two likely hits...Penske, where he would ultimately replace Rusty Wallace when he leaves NASCAR and retires, or Ganassi Racing....

[BootsOntheSide]

Maybe he should sign a longterm NASCAR deal, run the full Busch schedule, the Indy 500 which he's still to really post a great result in, and maybe a few Winston/Nextel races as the season goes on. It'd be ironic if he joined a rival IRL team for their NASCAR programme.

[oily oaf]

I'd advise Sam to steer well clear of Nascar, if you upset a fellow driver they have a tendancy to kick the c**p out of you.

[racefanatic]

I'd love to see Alex Barron get his seat!!! It drives me crazy that he can't get a full-time ride!

Well, I wish Sam the best wherever he goes, but it would be ashame to see him go to NASCAR.

[429CJ]

Originally posted by racefanatic
I'd love to see Alex Barron get his seat!!! It drives me crazy that he can't get a full-time ride!

I have same feelings.

[Tim Northcutt]

Headline in today's Indy Star:

IRL May Lose Defending Champion Hornish

Go to www.indystar.com

I don't have the time to run the basics of the piece...read it for yourself...still sounds like specuation going on, but an announcement may come next week...

[Tailwind]

Sounds like he's going to NASCAR to me. He says he not obligated to the IRL. I can't see him running with another IRL team.

[BennyBoy1978]

Might we see Mark Taylor moving up a level after this years IPS?

I hear carpenter is making his IRL debut at chicago and his been but in the shade

[rustyfan]

www.autosport.com has a story on the matter today that, in my opinion, makes it even harder to guess where Hornish might end up.

Ganassi rules out move for Hornish - Double IRL champ tipped for Andretti IRL squad or NASCAR


Chip Ganassi has said that he's not in the running to sign Sam Hornish Jr, who announced on Monday that he wouldn't return to the Pennzoil Panther Racing IRL IndyCar Series team next year.

The 24-year-old has been linked with both IndyCar and NASCAR Winston Cup teams, but Ganassi says Sam doesn't feature in his plans.

../..

But that theory ran into a roadblock on Wednesday when Penske Racing president Tim Cindric told the Indianapolis Star that the team has not been talking to Hornish or his agent, John Caponigro.

That leaves Andretti Green Racing as the only IRL team with the financial resources – and speculative interest – to sign Hornish. However, Andretti said recently that Hornish is no longer considering his team.

../..

Read the full article [here] (requires registration, which is free).

[Down F0rce]

"I've just come to the point where it was time to try something new. There are a lot of opportunities out there. Even though things are going great with Panther Racing, I need to try something different. And I want to give someone else a chance even though it's hard to leave. I've been sick about it the past week and even today. It was a tough decision," Hornish revealed, "but I have to go for it."


Hornish is 100% sure he's made the right decision, "but you don't know until you've done it." And wherever he ends up in 2004, Hornish "will make sure I have the opportunity to run the Indianapolis 500. I'm hoping to run the Indy 500 until the time I retire from racing. It's something special to have on your resume, when you consider the guys who have won this race, the Unsers, Rick Mears, Mario Andretti, A.J. Foyt and the rest. To put your name there is a great feeling. In fact," Hornish laughed, "my Mom was pregnant with me when she went to the 1979 Indianapolis 500 race, so it's in my genes."

nicked from motorsport.com

I guess this means he is off to Nascar. But, at least he still wants to race at Indy, which I was hoping would be enough to keep him in Indycars, but well well. Better than nothing.

[BootsOntheSide]

I think he's heading for NASCAR. That's where the big money and fame are. At 24 Sam is ambitious and has proven a lot already. The IRL will hold little new appeal, especially as his chances for this year have been so heavily compromised by something which wouldn't happen in NASCAR.

It'd be a real loss for open-wheel racing, and would leave the question as to whether he could cut it in CART, on road courses, unanswered.

[sgw2]

I hope he is at Andretti-Green. It would be a huge upgrade from the overrated and overpaid Dario Franchitti. (They should also keep Herta and farm out Wheldon for a year or two)

Alas I suspect he'll be in an Everingham Dodge for NASCAR. (based on the fact that Chevrolet had no knowledge of his signing.) That'll be a huge blow for American OW racing. As big a blow as Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon going NASCAR were.

Boots,

I have no doubts that Hornish will prove as strong on road courses as other oval/short track bred drivers Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon have - or Rick Mears a generation earlier. IRL or NASCAR he'll do a couple road races next year. So be patient to see him run them.