Ryan Newman races teammate Kurt Busch during the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway. (Geoff Burke/Getty Images Photo) » More Photos

Sam Hornish Jr., who has driven for Penske in both the IndyCar and NASCAR Sprint Cup series, said he couldn’t explain why Penske can dominate the open-wheel world and, relatively speaking, struggle in NASCAR.

“It’s hard for any kind of organization to have the kind of success that Roger (Penske) has had in the IRL and IndyCar racing,” said Hornish. “He’s got over 100 victories over there, 12 championships, 14 Indianapolis 500s. … I think the Yankees are the only thing that’s got anything close to that. It’s tough. That IndyCar program is not only successful (for) IndyCar programs or racing teams, it’s successful in almost any kind of sports you put it up against as far as championships or the caliber of team that it is. Of course the NASCAR program might be a little behind that, but that’s part of why I wanted to come over here.”

Hornish, who is showing steady improvement after an erratic start to his rookie season, is hoping to see Penske’s NASCAR program one day reach the level of its IndyCar squad. “I’d love to see the day where we are competing for race wins every time we go out there, where we are competing for championships every year, where you can get big wins like the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 and the Coke 600 and all that stuff constantly,” said Hornish. “That’s part of trying to grow this team and we continue to go in the right direction. It just takes time. It’s not an overnight, flip the switch thing.”

For his part, Busch is hoping this weekend to add a Brickyard 400 victory to Penske’s list of accomplishments.

“When you look at all of ‘the Captain’s’ accomplishments and the records for Penske Racing, the significant major voids in stock car racing are a win in the Brickyard 400 and a NASCAR points title,” said Busch. “I know those are major goals for Roger and I want to be the driver who delivers the goods to him.”

It will be an uphill battle. In his seven Brickyard starts, Busch has led a total of three laps and his lone top-five finish came in 2001, while Newman has finished 31st or worse in four of his seven Brickyard starts.

Of course, few gave Newman or Busch much of a shot at Daytona, either. “Roger and his teams had been trying for years and years to win the Daytona 500 and that part of the equation was filled in down there back in February,” said Daytona 500 runner-up Busch. “With the Daytona 500 now checked off the Penske Racing ‘hit list,’ the Brickyard 400 is the one race that looms so large on the radar screen.” Just as it does every year for Penske.

Tom Jensen is the Senior NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,” and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to