Reading, PA--

Just when it seemed like Sam Hornish Jr. would not step over into NASCAR after he had one chance to possibly be in a Penske car over the past several seasons, Roger Penske has once again expressed an interest to have in one of his cars in either ARCA or the NASCAR Busch Series next season.

Penske, who owns teams in IRL and Nascar, told the newspaper the plan would allow Hornish to enter some Busch Series races and lower-level ARCA races next season, in addition to the full schedule of IRL races.

"Sam has talked about running some Busch or ARCA races, and we're looking at a potential program,'' Penske first reported this information to the New York Times before the Nextel Cup Sharpie 500 on Saturday night. "We haven't put all the pieces together."

Other Penske drivers that have appeared in ARCA or Busch Series cars include Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch, both of whom nowcompete full time in the NEXTEL Cup Series.

Penske would not comment as to whether Hornish would run a car in the Cup series full time by the 2008 season. Look for Rusty Wallace to reappear in the the number 2 car before Hornish leaves IRL full time for Penske's already successful team of Helio Castroneves and Hornish.