Hornish dismisses Indy return reports

Following Penske's announcement this week naming David Stremme as their NASCAR Sprint Cup Series test driver and the team's IRL squad entering a car for this year's Indy with an unnamed driver, many linked Hornish with a return to the event he won in 2006.

However the 28-year-old denied he would try to compete in both events, emphasising that he is currently a stock car driver.

He says that Penske entering the No. 77 car for Indy - the same number he runs in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series - is just a coincidence that led to rumours about his return to the Brickyard.

"It threw a lot of people off because they entered the car as the No.77," Hornish said on Friday at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. "It was just something that people got all excited about or flustered about right off the bat."

The Indy 500 and the Coca Cola 600 both run on Memorial Day as usual, and although a number of drivers have managed to run both events in the past, the current race schedule would make it virtually impossible to get from Indianapolis in time for the start of the NASCAR event, although a relief driver could be used.

However, Hornish is adamant that he has decided to focus on his Sprint Cup duties.

"With the way that the schedule is, I'm not going to skip the 600 to go run at Indy," he said. "I just decided that I wanted to be here, I wanted to run the 600."

Hornish, whose best result in Cup this year has been his 15th place-finish in the Daytona 500, currently leads rookie standings and his car is among the top-35 guaranteed the start for the next event.