After beating the best in IndyCars, he wanted more

For some, being the best isn't always enough.

Sam Hornish Jr. was headed toward greatness in the IndyCar Series, but the security that goes with winning didn't quell his desire for something else: a new challenge.

He found it in NASCAR.

Many open-wheel drivers have tried the switch, but few have succeeded. That didn't sway Hornish. Neither did the learning the nuances of a new car that has perplexed some of NASCAR's top drivers.

As he prepared for his rookie season last year, he became a first-time father. New responsibilities and stresses were added to this daunting move.

"It's either going to be the most gratifying thing I do," Hornish figured of the move

"... or it's going to be the biggest mistake I've ever made."

To many, Hornish is just another name that flashes across the screen during Sprint Cup broadcasts. An inconsistent season has him 27th in points heading into Saturday night's race at Richmond International Raceway.

It's easy to look past Hornish, but a year ago, fellow former Indianapolis 500 champion Juan Pablo Montoya was in a similar position. Saturday night, Montoya could clinch a spot in NASCAR's title Chase.

Hornish doesn't have to race in NASCAR. He won the 2006 Indy 500, was a three-time IndyCar champion and, until recently, was the series' all-time leading race winner, including two victories at Richmond.

His career path seemed set in the open-wheel series. But NASCAR was the next series upward.

Blame - or credit - Hornish's father for such thinking.

When Hornish started racing go-karts at age 11, he figured he'd race about half a dozen times a year. Then he started winning. Rather than allow Hornish to continue dominating his division, his father would move him up quickly, repeating the pattern to add fresh challenges.

Hornish recalls going to Rockingham, N.C., as a teen ager to compete in nationals. He had driven a go-kart on an asphalt road course only three times and was racing teens who had competed on that type of track for years. Hornish was lapped - twice.

Such experiences steeled Hornish to challenges, including his move to NASCAR. It doesn't mean he won't get frustrated or upset, but he learned to keep going.

That's what he did after failing to qualify for his first six Cup races late in 2007 - three times missing out by less than a tenth of a second.

"I guess I am stubborn enough not to quit," said the 30-year-old Ohioan who grew up in the town of - appropriately enough - Defiance.

For every Tony Stewart who makes the successful transition from Indy racing to NASCAR, there is a Dario Franchitti who doesn't.

That's what makes Danica Patrick's anticipated entry to NASCAR next year - through the Camping World Truck and Nationwide series - such a hot topic.

Hornish hasn't faced the same scrutiny Patrick will, but that hasn't made this move any easier.

About eight hours before last weekend's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hornish walked through the infield with his wife, Crystal, and pushed the stroller for his 19-month-old daughter, Addison.

She appeared content, shaded from the sun and sucking her pacifier.

She was born less than two weeks before Hornish began his rookie Cup season. Combining the birth of a child with a new job compounded his stress.

The toughest part, Hornish admitted, might have come after Addison's birth.

His wife usually would attend his races.

When the day would wind down, they often would go to dinner instead of sequestering themselves in their motor home.

But with a newborn, she didn't travel with Hornish for about five races.

"You don't' know what to do with yourself at times," Hornish said of life on the road without Crystal, whom he's known since high school. "You're used to having someone there to talk to."

Crystal, with a baby book nearby, said Addison has been a blessing for Sam Jr.. She recalled a race last year at Pocono, when Hornish was involved in three accidents. She and his parents were in the motor home, and were unsure of what to say or do when he arrived.

Hornish entered, saw Addison, picked her up and started smiling.

"He acted like nothing had even happened," Crystal said.

That was true, Hornish admitted, until Addison went to bed. Then it was back to figuring what went wrong and how he could improve.

Hornish's results are a bit of a tease. A fifth-place finish at Michigan last month was followed by 35th place at Bristol. Five times this season, he's gone from a top-10 one week to 30th or worse the next.

Hornish's struggles show the challenge of transitioning from Indy Cars to stock cars. IndyCar teams look at computer screens to understand how the car handles as much as listening to the driver. That technology isn't allowed by NASCAR on race weekends, so what the driver tells the crew means everything.

So each night at the track, Hornish has homework. After practices, qualifying and races, he has a standard list of questions about the car and how it handled.

He records the details, sends them to crew chief Travis Geisler and keeps them in his files for his return to that track.

All of which is designed to help him to follow Montoya's path. Tim Cindric, president of Penske Racing, said the team is gauging Hornish's performance off Montoya, who is eighth in the standings entering this week.

Cindric notes that Montoya finished 25th in points last year. To climb higher, Cindric said Hornish needs to improve his patience, improve his qualifying and not drive the car so hard into the corners.

Doing that may not be as tough as going from one racing series to another, but a bigger challenge remains.

"My goal," he said, "is still to get to the point where I can win over here."