The Journal Gazette, 600 W. Main St., Fort Wayne IN

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – There was no time for Sam Hornish Jr. to celebrate his 15th-place showing in Daytona 500. The open-wheel star had to hustle back to Ohio to pitch in on diaper duty.

Hornish’s first child, a daughter, was born the week he reported to Daytona, and his commitment to racing caused him to miss 10 of the first 14 days of her life. He raced home after Sunday’s season opener so he could take over the midnight feedings wife Crystal had been handling alone.

“I’ve been gone for about five days out of each week over the past two weeks that she’s been around,” he said. “My wife’s been pretty much home alone taking care of things herself, and I had to give her a little bit of a break. It’s been great as a first-time father and is something that I’ve been looking forward to for a very long time.

“I’m really happy about that and hope everything continues to go as well with that as it has with the racing.”

Spending time with baby Addison didn’t prevent Hornish from reliving his first Daytona 500. He found time while baby-sitting to watch a replay of the entire race, which ended with a 1-2 finish from Penske Racing teammates Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch.

“My hands were sweating with 20 laps remaining, and I had already been in it – lived through it,” Hornish said. “That’s how exciting it was for me.”

Hornish had the best Daytona debut of all the new open-wheelers, running in or around the top 10 for almost the entire race. A mistake on a late pit stop, when he slid the nose of his Dodge outside the box and had to back up, cost him several positions, and he had to hustle in the closing laps to salvage his finish.

“It probably kept us from having a top-10 finish,” he guessed. “I think that was about the only hiccup that we had really all day long. To be a rookie at the Daytona 500, and to do what we set out to do – which was to get a top-20 finish – we were able to accomplish that, and I was just really happy with how everything worked.”

It completed a banner day for Penske Racing, which gave team owner Roger Penske his first Daytona 500 win. Penske has 14 Indianapolis 500 victories but was empty in 23 previous years at Daytona.

As thrilled as the owner was for Newman’s win and the impressive display of teamwork it took to accomplish it, Penske was just as pleased with Hornish’s performance. Hornish, a three-time IndyCar Series champion and the last of Penske’s Indy 500 winners, relied on Penske’s advice before making this move to NASCAR.

Struggles in his handful of starts last season – and his failure to qualify for his first six starts – had led many to believe the switch to stock cars was going to be a difficult transition for the most successful American driver in IndyCar history.

“I would say that I was really surprised (with the Daytona finish), but I was confident when we made the decision to bring him in,” Penske said. “He drove a masterful race. He was working with the teammates. I think he’s going to be a real great team player.

“To finish 15th in his first race, stay out of trouble, I was amazed. I know the team was excited.”

In comparison, reigning IndyCar and Indianapolis 500 champion Dario Franchitti fell off the pace early, went a lap down and finished 33rd. The other two open-wheelers in this rookie class, Jacques Villeneuve and Patrick Carpentier, failed to make the race. Villeneuve, a former Formula One world champion, may already be done with NASCAR. He’s been replaced in his Bill Davis Racing ride this week, and his future remains unclear.

Now Hornish heads to Fontana, Calif., where he has the luxury of knowing he’s locked into the field. Penske took the points that Busch earned last year and moved them to Hornish’s No. 77 ride to guarantee Hornish a spot in the first five races this season.

Qualifying for the race at Auto Club Speedway was rained out Friday, with the 43-car field determined by the rulebook instead of laps on the 2-mile oval.

NASCAR uses car owner points from the past season for the first five races of each year, so two-time reigning Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon, who finished second in 2007, will start from the front in Sunday’s Auto Club 500.

Clint Bowyer will start third, followed by Matt Kenseth, Casey Mears, Tony Stewart and Hornish.