Penske confirmed the news during a sponsorship announcement at his Ferrari dealership in the Wynn Las Vegas Thursday, where the team unveiled Kurt Busch's new No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Dodge in the Sprint Cup Series and a similar design for the iconic No. 3 Penske car that three-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves will drive at Indy next May.
For all his success in open-wheel racing, Hornish has never managed to make a big splash in NASCAR's big leagues, with only a pair of top-five finishes and eight top-10 efforts in 108 starts over three full seasons. And with no primary sponsor signed for his No. 77 Dodge, Penske said Hornish still doesn't have a full schedule set for 2011. Penske said both a limited Cup and Nationwide Series slate were possibilities.
"I told him that, at the end of the day, I'd much rather do a program where we can support you 100 percent than have some pick-up program with not enough sponsors,'' Penske said. "We need to have the continuity. We have a number of opportunities, but we just couldn't get them closed at this point.
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