Sam Hornish Jr. takes the wheel for AAA

From go-kart racer to Indianapolis 500 winner, Sam Hornish Jr. has come a long way in a short amount of time, rising to the top ranks of open-wheel racing. But now the world-class racer has set his sights on NASCAR with a little help from AAA.

Hornish is hoping to parlay the achievements he had in the IndyCar Series to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series behind the wheel of the Penske No. 77 car. AAA will be the primary sponsor of Hornish's Dodge Charger for races in California, Texas and Kansas and the co-primary sponsor in Alabama and New Hampshire.

Hornish began racing go-karts at age 11, and shortly thereafter he won nearly half of his 55 starts enroute to the World Karting Association U.S. Grand National Championship. When he was about 16, he moved to Formula Ford cars and spent two seasons in the U.S. Formula Ford 2000 Series. An Ohio native, Hornish started racing for the IndyCar Series for Panther Racing in 2001, and he won the series crown in this rookie season. He followed that up the next year with a second IndyCar Series Championship.

Penske invited Hornish to join its team in the 2004 season and he continued notching great finishes. Then in 2006, he added the crown jewel to his resume by wining the storied Indianapolis 500. To this day, Hornish remains one of the most decorated drivers in IndyCar history. Hornish is still the series' all-time leader in wins (19) and laps led (3,428).

In 2006 and 2007 Hornish began his much-anticipated transition from open-wheel to stock cars, competing in several NASCAR events. As a full-time rookie in 2008, Hornish earned three top-15 finishes and was a close second in the Rookie-of-the-Year standings.