Penske Racing is expanding, adding a third car to its NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team. Sam Hornish Jr., Indianapolis 500 winner, IRL champion, is making the move from open wheels to stock cars and will be racing the No. 77 Dodge for Roger Penske's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team. He is one of a number of open-wheel veterans who have decided to switch to NASCAR in 2008.
One of Hornish's teammates at Penske Racing is Ryan Newman, who got his start in open-wheel cars before it was en vogue to race with fenders.
He was asked during testing at Daytona International Speedway about all the open-wheel drivers coming into NASCAR this year.

“I wish we could redefine the word rookie when it comes to NASCAR because they aren’t anymore," said Newman, driver of the No. 12 Dodge for Penske Racing. "These guys that are coming in are rookies in NASCAR but they’re far from rookies. Because they’re open wheel drivers, to me it makes no difference. I was an open wheel driver when I came in, I just wasn’t an Indy Car driver. The bottom line is they’re drivers, they’re competitors. Whether they’re male or female, open wheel drivers or late model drivers from the local short track. If they’re deserving to be here (they) will learn and we'll see."
In addition to Hornish, Dario Franchitti, last year's Indy 500 and IRL champion, is driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, Jacques Villeneuve, a champion Formula One driver, is racing for Bill Davis and Patrick Carpentier, a veteran of the Champ Car World Series, is driving for Gillett Evernham Motorsports. Juan Pablo Montoya, a Formula One and Indy 500 winner, made his debut in NASCAR last year.
"In the car owners and sponsors eyes they feel that they are (ready)," Newman said. "You go out there and I wouldn’t say you’re scared to be with them but they have to learn as far as drafting, passing, racing and things like that. I have a teammate that’s one. Part of my job is to help him out. Part of his job, I told him, is to help me win at Indy. We’ll see how things go.”
Franchitti and Hornish were among the top 10 drivers in testing Wednesday.
Here's a look at the speeds and times from Wednesday's test session:

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Wednesday testing speeds from the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series testing in preparation for the 50th running of the Daytona 500:

1. 9B, Kasey Kahne, Dodge, 47.591, 189.111
2. 11B, Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 47.665, 188.818
3. 40, Dario Franchitti, Dodge, 47.689, 188.723
4. 01A, Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 47.703, 188.667
5. 12B, Ryan Newman, Dodge, 47.724, 188.584
6. 77B, Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 47.836, 188.143
7. 43B, Bobby Labonte, Dodge, 47.845, 188.107
8. 20B, Tony Stewart, Toyota, 47.857, 188.060
9. 55M, Michael Waltrip, Toyota 47.877, 187.982
10. 6B, David Ragan, Ford, 47.888, 187.939
11. 22B, Dave Blaney, Toyota, 47.909, 187.856
12. 26A, Jamie McMurray, Ford, 47.910, 187.852
13. 15A, Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 47.912, 187.844
14. 20A, Tony Stewart, Toyota, 47.919, 187.817
15. 34B, Derrike Cope Dodge, 47.925, 187.793
16. 44B, Dale Jarrett, Toyota, 47.958, 187.664
17. 12A, Ryan Newman, Dodge, 48.002, 187.492
18. 66H, Scott Riggs, Chevrolet, 48.007, 187.473
19. 88B, Dale Earnhardt Jr,. Chevrolet, 48.014, 187.445
20. 31A, Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 48.019, 187.426
21. 21B, Bill Elliott Ford, 48.042, 187.336
22. 10B, Patrick Carpentier, Dodge, 48.052, 187.297
23. 38B, David Gilliland, Ford, 48.065, 187.246
24. 11A, Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 48.082, 187.180
25. 77A, Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 48.101, 187.106
26. 01B, Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 48.141, 186.951
27. 26B, Jamie McMurray, Ford, 48.147, 186.928
28. 22, Dave Blaney, Toyota, 48.179, 186.803
29. 50A, Stanton Barrett, Chevrolet, 48.429, 185.839
30. 49B, Ken Schrader, Dodge, 48.456, 185.736
31. 44A, Dale Jarrett, Toyota, 48.493, 185.594
32. 08A, Carl Long, Dodge, 48.611, 185.143
33. 55, Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 48.636, 185.048
34. 83B, Brian Vickers, Toyota, 48.679, 184.885
35. 83A, Brian Vickers, Toyota, 48.780, 184.502
36. 43A, Bobby Labonte, Dodge, 48.780, 184.502
37. 10C, Patrick Carpentier, Dodge, 48.872, 184.155
38. 34A, Derrike Cope Dodge, 48.928, 183.944
39. 29A, Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 48.979, 183.752
40. 21A, Bill Elliott, Ford, 48.991, 183.707
41. 87, Jeff Fuller, Chevrolet, 48.992, 183.703
42. 49A, Ken Schrader, Dodge, 49.090, 183.337
43. 60B, Boris Said, Ford, 49.225, 182.834
44. 6A, David Ragan, Ford, 49.231, 182.812
45. 60A, Boris Said, Ford, 49.347, 182.382
46. 9A, Kasey Kahne, Dodge, 49.421, 182.109
47. 66C, Scott Riggs, Chevrolet, 49.467, 181.939
48.31 Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 49.474, 181.914
49 29B, Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 49.642, 181.298
50. 09A, Sterling Marlin, Chevrolet, 49.732, 180.970
51. 15B, Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 49.788, 180.766
52. 57A, Norm Benning, Chevrolet, 50.171, 179.386