Stewart hopes to revisit Penske's Indy 500 offer

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) - Tony Stewart believes he has an open-ended offer from Roger Penske to run the Indianapolis 500.

The three-time NASCAR champion turned down Penske's offer in December to drive one of his cars at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but Stewart revealed Monday he told "The Captain'' over dinner he'd like to revisit the offer down the road.

Stewart is an Indiana native and former IndyCar series champion who grew up dreaming of winning the Indy 500. He ran it five times and finished a career-best fifth in 1997.

Stewart twice attempted to run both the Indy 500 and NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 on the same day: In 1999, he was ninth at Indy and fourth at Charlotte, and he was sixth at Indy and third at Charlotte in 2001.

He hasn't tried Indianapolis since.