Sam Hornish Jr. Voices Roary the Racing Car on PBS

What’s a guy do after winning the Indianapolis 500 and three IndyCar Series championships?

Narrate a kids show about a racecar, of course.

“I knew it wasn’t going to be anything that was going to make me rich,” said Sam Hornish Jr., narrator of PBS’ “Roary the Racing Car,” launching Monday on PBS Kids Sprout. “But I’m a big kid myself.”

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“Roary the Racing Car” is from the creators of “Bob the Builder” and follows Roary, a bright, lovable racecar and a diverse group of friends at the Silver Hatch racetrack.

For Hornish, now on NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series driving for Penske Racing, the narrating gig was a step outside his usual world behind the wheel.

“I always thought I wanted to do something on radio or TV or acting, something like that,” he told the Daily News.

He recorded narration for 54 episodes in just one day this summer. His part, he admits, is not that difficult. But it was a challenge because while he’s done commercials and appearances for racing sponsors, he’s never done voice-over work like that in “Roary.”

“There’s a certain way they want you to say things, the inflection they want you to give,” he said. “There’s a certain amount of training they did have to do.”

Indeed, Hornish said it took him three hours to record the first episode and four hours to finish the rest of the episodes. He’s heard at the beginning and end of every show.

The show will launch on PBS Kids Sprout in the cable network’s “Sunny Side Up” programming block, which airs between 9 a.m. and noon. The show is now available on Sprout’s video-on-demand service.

The network aims for kids between ages 2 and 5, which appealed to Hornish.

“I knew I was going to do it,” he said. “It teaches kids about teamwork.”

Source: NYDailyNews.com