DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Ever since Sam Hornish, Jr. won the first of his three IndyCar Series titles in 2001, he was considered “Sam the Man” in that form of racing.
Now as a NASCAR Sprint Cup rookie, he’s just trying to be noticed as one of the guys in America’s biggest racing series.
“I’ve been standing over in the corner with nobody talking to me,” Hornish said. “That’s how going to Indy was the first time. Nobody really knew who I was. A couple people asked me questions but not much.
“At least coming into this, I’m not ‘The Guy.’ That takes a little pressure off, but someday I want to be one of  ‘The Guys.’”
Although he was very cooperative as an IndyCar star, there were times when he was in demand by media, sponsors and fans in that series and wanted to enjoy a little anonymity.
Now that he is part of NASCAR, he gets lost in the crowd with the other big stars of the sport, at least for now.
“It’s always on the other end of the spectrum from where you want it to be,” Hornish said. “You go in there and try to get people to know who you are because you need sponsors and then nobody wants to talk to you or you have sponsors and everybody wants to talk to you. I’m pretty happy to be here and get this started, though. It’s been a year-and-a-half that we’ve been working to get to this point.”
Hornish was a master at IndyCar racing, winning titles in 2001, 2002 and 2006. He won the 90th Indianapolis 500 in 2006 and left the series as the all-time victory leader with 19.
He was one of the drivers the fans came to see at Indy every May, but now he has to earn his way into NASCAR, beginning with the Daytona 500 Feb. 17.
“It’s a big task ahead of us having the biggest race of the year right off the bat,” Hornish said. “Hopefully we’ll be prepared and go out there and have a good run. I didn’t have any butterflies at Indy until race-day morning walking out on the grid. I’m sure I’ll have the same feeling here.
“I’m looking forward to going out there and being a part of the 50th Daytona 500.”
Hornish is guaranteed a starting spot after Penske Racing was successful in getting NASCAR to agree to a points switch with fellow driver Kurt Busch, who finished seventh in the final standings. That guarantees that Hornish is in the field for the first five races because of the top 35 rule.
After the fifth race of the season, if Hornish remains in the top-35 in points, he will be locked into the starting lineup until he drops to 36th or lower in the standings.
His intentions are to move up in the standings, not down, but he realizes it’s a steep learning curve.
“It’s a tough thing going into the first race of the year, being the biggest race and hoping to qualify,” Hornish said. “If you are fast enough, you have to run the 150s on Thursday and you can be taken out of that through no fault of your own, have a tire go down and an engine problem keep you out of the biggest race of the year.
“It’s a great feeling for us to know that we are in the race, to learn throughout the practice sessions, go into the 150s and apply that to the actual race.”
Hornish is going to concentrate on finishing races because at this stage of his Cup career, he has a lot to learn before he can be in a position to win a race.
He has had to learn to deal with the frustrations of understanding the Dodge Charger that he drives for Penske Racing.
“There have been guys who have come over and been successful in IndyCars and came over and made it work over here, and there are others who haven’t,” Hornish said. “It depends on how long it takes to acquire that, how much time the sponsors and team give you to be able to learn that. We really approach this as though this is going to be a learning year.
“We want to learn from other people’s mistakes to stay out of trouble.”