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Lately, the talk hasn’t been about what Sam Hornish Jr. has done but what he might do.

But just for reference, Hornish is an icy open-wheel driver, winner of the 2006 Indianapolis 500 and reigning IndyCar series champion.

At 27, however, Hornish is somewhat at a crossroads — continue to do what he has been doing, knowing that he probably is too old to be considered for a Formula One ride, or take the huge step to NASCAR Nextel Cup racing, where the cars are heavier and the racing completely different?

With five weeks left in the IndyCar season, including Sunday’s Firestone Indy 400 at Michigan International Speedway, Hornish said he is on the fence about his future and is “50-50″ about whether to make the move to stock cars.

“That’s where I’m at right now,” said Hornish, a native of Defiance, Ohio, about an hour’s drive from MIS. “I can’t say I’m leaning in one direction. I’ve had a lot of fun (in Indy cars), and I’d love to get to the point where I really feel good about doing one or the other. I’m still right down the middle, and that’s a good place to be with a lot of options in front of me.”

There is plenty to consider. Among the most daunting aspects of stock car racing, aside from handling the cars, is dealing with an extreme change in lifestyle.

The IndyCar series is 17 races, while the NASCAR Cup season is a grueling 36 races.

Hornish has the luxury of driving for Roger Penske, who not only is a fixture in the IndyCar series but in the Cup series as well, running a two-car team. Penske has made it clear he can expand his Cup operation to three cars if Hornish decides that’s where he would like to be.

He has run a limited number of stock car races this year, and has made five NASCAR Busch series starts with an average starting position of 17.7 and average finish of 29.7. His best Busch finish was 15th at Atlanta earlier this year.

Hornish is expected to compete in the Busch race at Michigan in two weeks during the Cup weekend. He also competed in the ARCA race at Michigan in June, starting from the pole and finishing second.

“That’s the tough thing — having only a few stock car races this year and having to make a decision off that,” said Hornish, who has one IndyCar victory this year. “If I go off results, I’d think, ‘No way.’ ”

What Hornish needs is more time in stock cars, and apparently he will get that. After the IRL season ends on Sept. 9, the intent is to have him attempt to qualify for a few Cup races. Hornish has only tested a Cup car once, for Penske driver Kurt Busch at Talladega last year, and in addition to the seven Busch races he has competed in the last two years, he has participated in only three Busch tests.

“We have to get in some more races,” Penske said recently. “We have a pretty good idea what we would do there. I think he’s getting his feet wet.

“This was strictly more seat time. He has four or five more Busch races to run and there’s a possibility to run him in some Cup races at the end so he doesn’t wake up next year having not run with these guys.

“We’ve not come to the junction where we say, ‘Hey, what are we going to do?’ We’ve just said, ‘Let’s leave it and not make a decision and let things play out.’ ”

Hornish is having fun regardless. He is a racer and racers like to be in race cars, and he has done plenty of that this year.

“I’m learning, and that’s been a ton of fun,” Hornish said. “I’m cutting my teeth over there (in stock cars).”

If Hornish decides to move to the Cup series full-time in 2008, will he be able to run in the Indianapolis 500, a race he cherishes?

“I’d love to see him still run the 500 at least, absolutely,” Penske said.