Dave Parker / AP

Sam Hornish Jr. pumps his fist as he beats Marco Andretti to the finish line during last year's Indy 500.

“My first love is always going to be the Indianapolis 500, but I love watching the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400,” Hornish said. “I’ve always felt like once you win something as big as the Indianapolis 500, why not try to be only the third guy (after A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti) to win the Daytona 500 and the Indy 500? Why not try to be the only guy to win the Indy 500 and the Brickyard 400? Those things start entering your mind.”

If anything, Hornish looks as though he’s already letting his mind wander toward NASCAR. He’s yet to win a race this season and comes into the 500 just sixth in the IRL standings, though he readily acknowledges he should have been top-three at every event.

He’s also struggling in the Busch series, failing to crack the top 10 in five starts and sitting 47th in the point standings.

Trying to show his focus is firmly on Indy cars — at least for now — Hornish canceled a scheduled two-day Busch testing session at Charlotte Motor Speedway last week.

“I’m 100 percent focused on running the IndyCar stuff,” he said. “The stock car stuff is extracurricular.”

Marco Andretti insists he’s not even thinking about Formula One, even though he tested one of the high-tech cars for Honda over the winter. But, if the time comes to make a decision, he won’t have any trouble finding someone to go to for counseling.

His grandfather won the world championship in 1978, while his father didn’t even last an entire season with his ill-fated move to F1 in 1993.

“Obviously, there’s a lot to learn from what happened to me,” Michael Andretti said. “He knows that you’ve got to be with the right team. I would highly recommend to him that if he’s not going to a team that he feels he can win with, don’t go.”