Hornish set to enter 2 Busch Series races.

<p>IndyCar star Sam Hornish Jr. is the latest open-wheel driver ready to give NASCAR a try.</p><p>Hornish, a three-time IRL champion and this year's Indianapolis 500 winner, said Saturday he will attempt to qualify a Penske Racing South Dodge for the Busch Series races in November at Phoenix and Homestead.</p><p>Juan Pablo Montoya _ the former Indy 500 winner, CART champion and Formula One star _ was set to make his NASCAR debut Saturday night in a Busch race at Memphis. He will move up to Nextel Cup in 2007 with Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates.</p><p>A.J. Allmendinger, the runner-up in this year's Champ Car World Series, has driven several Craftsman Truck Series races this fall and will also race in Cup next year for the new Team Red Bull.</p><p>For Hornish, the Busch races this year are an experiment.</p><p>"My big goal is to see if I can do it," he said at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where he was scheduled to race later Saturday in the finale of the 2006 Crown Royal International Race of Champions Series.</p><p>"There's been so much speculation and I've been thinking about it for so long, it's time to do it," he added. "Making both races and finishing both races are my only goals right now."</p><p>Hornish said he remains committed to the IRL's IndyCar Series next season, but plans to mix "a couple" of Busch races into the schedule.</p><p>Tim Cindric, president of Penske Racing Performance, said the relatively compact IRL schedule, which begins in March and ends in September, is what makes it possible to run Hornish in some NASCAR events.</p><p>"We know and Sam knows what our main focus is for him, and that's the IRL," Cindric said. "But this is an opportunity that we first discussed when Sam came to our team. And it was time to make it happen."</p><p>He said Hornish could possibly run a Cup race toward the end of next season "if everything goes the way we'd like it to."</p><p>___</p><p>FAST TIMES: Kasey Kahne, who won the Atlanta race in March and is the favorite going into Sunday's Bass Pro Shops 500, was fastest in practice Saturday.</p><p>After on-track activity was rained out on Friday, the Nextel Cup drivers were finally able to get onto the 1.5-mile oval for two sessions Saturday.</p><p>Carl Edwards, who swept both Atlanta races in 2005, was fastest in the opening practice at 187.830 mph, while Kahne led the second session at 187.856.</p><p>Edwards, Kevin Harvick and Robby Gordon all skipped the final "Happy Hour" practice to fly to Memphis, where they were to race Saturday in the Busch Series event.</p><p>"I feel comfortable leaving and I don't think there is much we could do to make the car better," Edwards said before leaving the Atlanta track.</p><p>Harvick was fifth fast in the opening practice while Gordon was eighth.</p><p>Overall, among the 10 drivers in the Chase for the championship, Kahne, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were fastest.</p><p>___</p><p>FACE TO FACE: David Ragan has never met Tony Stewart off the track, and he took an extraordinary step to make it happen.</p><p>Stewart and Ken Schrader criticized Ragan following a three-car wreck triggered by Ragan last Sunday at Martinsville. The 20-year-old rookie bid $5,750 at Thursday night's Speedway Children's Charities and Ryan Newman Foundation auction in Charlotte to buy a prerace ride around the track with Stewart on Sunday.</p><p>"I've never spoken to Tony before," said Ragan, who will replace Mark Martin in the Roush Racing No. 6 Ford next season. "I'm kind of happy he knows my name actually, but not for these reasons. This will give us a chance to talk a little bit."</p><p>Reigning Cup champion Stewart was amused by Ragan's strategy.</p><p>"I think its hilarious; its great," Stewart said. "He could have saved a little money by just picking up the phone and calling me, but at least it's for a good cause."</p><p>___</p><p>BIG LOSS: Steve Spahr, the veteran jackman for Bill Davis Racing, died Friday at his North Carolina home. He was 48.</p><p>Spahr recently had been hospitalized with a tear of the aorta and had undergone surgery. He was recovering at home with his family when he died suddenly.</p><p>Spahr worked at the shop and at the track. He performed a wide range of tasks from engine tuning to suspension work in the shop and had served as the jackman for the No. 22 team before moving to Michael Waltrip's No. 55 Dodge.</p><p>"He was a quiet mentor to his peers and was both respected and well-liked by everyone on our race team and many others within the NASCAR Nextel Cup garage," Davis said Saturday. "He will be missed and remembered fondly by everyone associated with our team."</p><p>___</p><p>SPARK PLUGS: The late Dale Earnhardt is the all-time leader at the Atlanta track with nine victories, while Bobby Labonte is the top active driver with six wins. ... There have been eight different winners in the last nine Cup races in Atlanta, with Edwards the only two-time winner. ... Kahne has a series-best average finish of 9.8 in his five starts at AMS.</p>

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