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CONCORD, N.C. — As the list of open-wheel stars moving to NASCAR grows, Sam Hornish Jr. remains undecided about his future.

He’s had tremendous success in IndyCars — winning three championships and last year’s Indianapolis 500 — but his tryout in stock cars hasn’t been nearly as smooth. He has yet to qualify for a Nextel Cup event after four failed attempts, including Thursday night at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

“We knew it was going to be difficult coming in,” he said. “We’d like to have been racing a couple times so far, but we knew this was a possibility. We knew this was going to be tough, and that’s why I said I wanted to do this.”

A longtime open-wheel loyalist, Hornish now finds himself one of the many newcomers in NASCAR.

The road was paved last summer by Juan Pablo Montoya, who left Formula One for the Cup Series, and the defections have been fast and furious ever since. In the past week, reigning IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti and Champ Car star Patrick Carpentier both said they will run full Cup schedules next season.

All the moves have been full of fanfare, but Hornish has quietly plugged along. He can’t get into a Cup race, and he has not turned too many heads in the eight Busch Series events he’s run, with a 15th-place finish at Atlanta earlier this season his best showing.

But Hornish cautions that it’s unfair to judge him against drivers who have been racing stock cars far longer.

“These guys have more races in stock cars the past two months then I have my entire life,” he said. “We’re here trying to get track time, trying to get experience, so if I do go this route, I’ll at least have a little experience and at least have been to some of these tracks before.”

But Hornish remains undecided on what route he plans to go. Car owner Roger Penske is leaving the decision up to him, assuring Hornish there will be a seat for him in either series.

As the American star of open-wheel racing, Hornish admits to pressure surrounding his upcoming decision on whether to leave the IndyCar Series for NASCAR.

“I’ve tried to stay with the IRL and do all the things I could do,” he said. “I feel I can only do so much, somebody will replace me. It might not be today or tomorrow, but there will always be the next American driver.”