Penske to drop cars in 2011

UPDATE Rumor has it that Brad Keselowki's No. 12 may get the Miller Beer sponsorship next year, with Pennzoil/Shell going on the No. 2 Kurt Busch Dodge.

07/25/10 Sam Hornish's No. 77 Dodge doesn't have a primary sponsor for next season with the impending departure of Mobil 1. Penske Racing can't use Verizon, a sponsor of its Izod IndyCar Series team, in NASCAR because of a conflict with series title sponsor Sprint.

"No updates as far as I'm concerned yet," Hornish said. "I definitely would like to be back in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and I'm going to try and do that, but there are definitely things tough with the economy and trying to find full-time sponsors.

"We're going to do whatever we can do to make that happen, (and) if that doesn't work, we're going to take a look around at something else."

"We're doing everything we can to have three cars (in Sprint Cup) next season, and to say we're not is not fact," Roger Penske said. "As you know, it's not easy out there (financially)."

"At the end of the day, these (cars) don't run on no gas," Penske said.

Over the years, Penske hasn't been keen on having three Indy cars, but that's what he has this season with Helio Castroneves, Will Power and Ryan Briscoe. The cars of Castroneves and Briscoe don't have a primary sponsor in the aftermath of Philip Morris USA withdrawing because of tobacco sponsorship restrictions.

In stock car racing, Brad Keselowski's No. 12 Sprint Cup car, which starts 11th today, also lacks a title sponsor.

Penske might have a business empire, but he didn't build it by paying for so many race cars. "It's tough (to do)," he said. Indy Star

That's 4 Penske cars without sponsorship in 2011 and that's 4 drivers that could be without rides: