"It's safe to say that the challenge of it intrigues me," Hornish said in the midst of preparations for this week's Honda 200.

Hornish is fifth in the IRL driver standings heading into the race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course _ which Hornish first drove on 14 or 15 years ago when he sloshed through a rainy go-kart race. He is financially secure and has a reputation as a dependable, patient and productive driver.

At the same time, after eight years in IRL, he's itching for something new.

"One of the main reasons that I would even consider doing a stock-car program is again getting to the point that it's racing but it's still not the same thing," Hornish said while sipping a diet drink in the coffee shop of his hotel. "It's a different discipline you have to learn, the tools you have to use are different. There's a lot of little things that you need to consider and adjust yourself for to be able to be competitive in that series."

No sooner were those words out of his mouth than he added, "Just because someone is good in one thing doesn't mean that they're going to be good in another."

There's no question that Hornish has been very, very good in IRL. His win at Texas Motor Speedway last month was his 19th, more than anyone else in the series.

He had the fourth-fastest time during the two practice sessions on Friday. IRL points leader Dario Franchitti, chasing his fourth win of the year, was less than a second faster over the 2.258-mile road course than Tony Kanaan, Helio Castroneves, Hornish, Scott Dixon and Vitor Meira. Qualifying runs are Saturday.

Despite his IRL success, Hornish makes no secret of the fact that he's restless. His agreement with Penske Racing allows him to try some different things. He's driving in several Busch Series events and is testing himself in other ways.