Brooklyn, Mich. ? It’s hard to imagine Sam Hornish Jr. being uncomfortable before any Indy Racing League event.

The defending IRL champion is the only driver with three victories this year and he has finished third and second since winning at Richmond International Raceway a month ago.

But Hornish has never turned a competitive lap at Michigan International Speedway, which on Sunday will host its first IRL race, the Michigan Indy 400.

“I’m not comfortable here with the car on this racetrack, yet,” Hornish said Friday. “But we’ve got until Sunday to get that taken care of.”

Buddy Rice, making his IRL driving debut, had the best lap of 221.833 mph during two practices sessions on Friday. Hornish turned a lap of 219.809 mph, which ranked ninth among 25 drivers.

Qualifying is today.

While Hornish wasn’t familiar with the speedway’s 2-mile oval, he did win the Yamaha Indy 400 in March at California Speedway, which is similar.

Hornish said about the only difference is there is more banking here.

“Both are 2-mile tracks and they’re wide, so you can pass and it will probably be a close race,” Hornish said. “Those are the aspects that make it similar.”

Hornish would like a shot at winning both the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500.

Dale Earnhardt Inc. has had preliminary discussions with Hornish to explore the possibility of him making the switch from open-wheel cars to stock cars. Hornish drove a stock car to a second-place finish in the IROC race at Daytona in February.

“I’ve always wanted to win the Indianapolis 500 since I started racing,” Hornish said. “That is still a major goal, but of course, you can’t do that if you’re racing stock cars. But I’d also like to win the Daytona 500. I think I pretty much have to take care of one before I go after the other.

“I’ve been hearing some things, but nothing is done and I haven’t signed any contracts with anybody. I’m working on a contract here and I’m just weighing all of my options.”

Penzoil Panther Racing has Hornish under contract for this season and has discussed signing him to a deal for next year, partner Mike Griffin said.

“We’ve told Sam that we don’t mind him racing at Daytona or the Brickyard, but we’re not interested in seeing him in a bunch of Busch races because we’re trying to win championships,” he said. “I understand what he’s going through. If I was a driver, I’d want to run at Daytona and the Brickyard, too. Ultimately, Sam is just going to have to choose what he wants to do.”