Sam Hornish, Jr., doesn't have any particular words to describe the whirlwind he went through Saturday. It began that afternoon, as he was sitting on a set at SPEED TV's North Carolina studios. It ended with him landing in the driver's seat of a NASCAR Sprint Cup race.
The proverbial ride still hasn't ended.
Since he completed the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla., the Defiance native has been besieged by media requests and has been a direct part of the speculation surrounding Penske Racing teammate AJ Allmendinger, who was temporarily suspended by NASCAR after failing a random drug test.
"At the end of the day, the last few days have been very, very busy," Hornish said.
Penske Racing called Hornish into Sprint Cup duty after NASCAR announced Allmendinger's suspension.
Less than 24 hours after returning home to North Carolina after Friday's Nationwide Series race in Daytona Beach, he returned to Daytona on a Penske jet with minutes to spare, replacing Allmendinger in the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge and finishing 33rd in his first Sprint Cup race since April.
Hornish hasn't necessarily had time to reflect upon the experience. Instead, he's focusing his energies on preparing to drive twice this weekend in New England.
He'll drive the No. 12 Alliance Truck Parts Dodge on Saturday in the F.W. Webb 200 Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H., then he will drive in the LENOX Industrial Tools 301 Sunday at NHIS. Driving on a short, flat track such as the one at Loudon, as opposed to a lengthy, banked superspeedway such as Daytona, appeals to Hornish's strength as a driver.
"Daytona's all about drafting," Hornish said. "Loudon is about how you manipulate the brake and the gas. It's a lot more about precision."
Hornish's immediate focus is on the Nationwide race, as he enters the weekend fourth in the Nationwide points standings, 35 points behind leader Elliott Sadler.
"We have to be keyed in on [Nationwide]," Hornish said. "The only thing we know right now is that we've got one weekend on the Cup Series, and we're going to give everything we've got."
The question now is, will Hornish replace Allmendinger or won't he? Hornish has expressed his desire to return full-time to the Sprint Cup circuit, though Penske Racing has not yet announced its contingency plans if Allmendinger's second drug testing sample matches the "A" sample, which would result in an indefinite suspension. NASCAR has not announced which substance or substances for which Allmendinger tested positive.
Team owner Roger Penske told Sirius/XM's NASCAR Radio's Morning Drive on Tuesday that his team will go week to week with Hornish.
"Hopefully we'll be able to clear AJ, and he can be back in the car," Penske said.
Hornish said he has not talked to Allmendinger since the temporary suspension was announced, but provided some insight into NASCAR's drug testing protocol, in which drivers, crew members and officials are tested at random at each track.
Hornish explained that NASCAR's drug-testing process, administered weekly at each track by Aegis Sciences Corporation, follows a step-by-step procedure, right down to an individual watching a lab tech split a urine specimen into two cups -- the "A" and the "B" sample.
"There's a very fine checklist of things of the things you follow and they follow when you take the test," said Hornish, who has been tested at least eight times since joining NASCAR in October of 2006. "They don't leave anything to chance."
Allmendinger released a statement Tuesday on his Web site, ajallmendinger.com, confirming that his second sample will be tested.
"I fully respect NASCAR's drug usage policy and the reasons they have it." Allmendinger wrote. "I am hoping this can get resolved as quickly as possible so that I can get back to driving the No. 22 Penske Racing Dodge. I am sorry that this has caused such a distraction for my Penske Racing team, our sponsors and fans. Obviously I would never do anything to jeopardize my opportunity here at Penske Racing or to my fellow drivers. I am very conscious about my training and health and would never knowingly take a prohibited drug."
Penske said the team would stand behind Allmendinger but would not make any decision about Allmendinger's future with Penske Racing until results of the "B" sample are made available. If the second sample does not match the first sample, NASCAR can reinstate Allmendinger.
"This is a speed bump that neither one of us contemplated and we have to deal with it professionally,'' Penske said.
While the questions surround the situation, Hornish knows about as much as his long-term future on the Sprint Cup series as any of the pundits, analysts and armchair drivers who have followed the latest saga in NASCAR.
"There's a lot going on," Hornish said. "The toughest part about it, I don't have any more answers than you do. It's a tough thing because everybody's kind of blank right now as far as what's going to happen in the future."
Contact Rachel Lenzi at: rlenzi@theblade.com, 419-724-6510 or on Twitter @RLenziBlade.
First Published July 11, 2012, 4:15 a.m.