Notes: Penske-Davis deal puts Hornish in first five

Sam Hornish Jr. will not be in the Budweiser Shootout, but he is locked in for the first first races of the season.

• Audio: Penske, Davis cut deal

Penske Racing officials have confirmed Hornish, who drives the No. 77 Dodge, will secure the 2008 owners' points of the former Bill Davis Racing No. 22 car, which was 31st in the points last year.

Davis sold his team in December but retained the rights to the points. NASCAR does not allow teams to buy points outright but allows an offseason transfer to another car as long as the original owner has at least a minimal ownership stake in the car.

Hornish ended last year 38th in owners' points and outside the top 35 that guarantees a car a starting spot for the first five races of the season.

One race not enough for Labonte

Two-time Cup champion Terry Labonte, who stopped driving full time in 2004, is looking beyond his ride in the Daytona 500. Labonte's ride in Prism Motorsports' No. 66 Toyota at Daytona is his only scheduled race this year.

"I wouldn't mind running eight or 10 or 12 races, something like that," said Labonte, who started 10 races in 2008. "I had a blast last year. It was actually fun."

Labonte insists he's still retired from full-time competition, saying he doesn't understand "why anybody would want to run every week."

Labonte has made 44 starts since he stopped driving full time, with one top-five and two top-10 finishes.

MWR wants to run more Nationwide races

Michael Waltrip says his goal is to run his No. 99 Nationwide Series car in all 35 races, but there's a chance the team could be limited to 27 races this season.

Waltrip said the team has sponsorship for 26 races -- 14 for himself and 12 for Scott Speed. Waltrip also will run the April standalone race at Nashville, with or without a sponsor.

If sponsorship isn't found for the remaining eight events, the No. 99 won't run, he said.

"We're in the business to race these Cup cars," Waltrip said. "[The Nationwide team] just supports that business. If there isn't a sponsor on it, then it won't go anywhere because it costs us money, and we don't gain anything on it."