While testing at The Milwaukee Mile Wednesday for Penske Racing, David Stremme couldn't help but crack a smile as he looked across track and found the No. 40 Dodge.

It's the same car Chip Ganassi Racing punted Stremme from at the end of 2007 replacing him with open-wheel driver Dario Franchitti who has since agreed to return to the Indy Racing League.

"You know, I'm up here doing my normal deal as a test driver for Penske," Stremme said. "And Ganassi is up here too with Juan Montoya...it's just funny now that I'm over here."

"Over here" meaning Stremme was told Wednesday that he is no longer just the Cup test driver, but Penske Racing's new Sprint Cup driver for 2009 in the No. 12 Dodge.

"I'm pretty pumped up," Stremme said. "It's a great opportunity to get to drive for Roger Penske. I mean just look at what the organization has done in motorsports -- the Daytona 500, Indy 500, championship drivers -- I'm just so excited I barely have the words to explain how I feel."

Validated is one word used to describe how the South Bend, Ind., native feels.

After spending two seasons at Chip Ganassi Racing, he was released before the 2008 season due to sponsorship issues with the No. 40 car, a car that was shut down in July after running 10 races with Franchitti due to additional sponsorship woes.

Stremme was forced to downsize his NASCAR career and return to the Nationwide Series, running a partial schedule for Rusty Wallace Inc. this season. He's is 12th in the point standings after starting 24 or 27 races.

In 75 Cup Series starts, Stremme has three top-10 finishes. He also has raced in the Nationwide (125 starts; 20 top-fives; 46 top-10s) and Truck (three starts; one top-10) series.

Though the decision was less than appealing after making his Cup debut in 2005, Stremme had no other choice.

The choice however gave the driver an opportunity to showcase his talent and remind Cup teams in the garage that the 31-year-old, who grew up racing Street Stocks with both his parents, deserved a second opportunity on the Cup side.

In May, Penske contacted Stremme to be a test driver and strengthen the teams' new-generation cars.

"Initially, it was just testing and that was all they could promise me," Stremme recalled.

"But just to be a part of the organization testing would keep me fresh and learning more about the new cars."

Then in July, Ryan Newman announced his departure from the No. 12 for the No. 39 at Stewart-Haas Racing next season, which opened up the seat for Stremme, something the driver never expected.

It's has been a tumultuous and uncertain year for Stremme, but the driver said he wouldn't change the course of events.

"Because it's made me a better person," he said. "It's taught me a lot about myself, it was hard. January was the worst, watching my friends leave for Cup testing in Daytona and I was still stuck in Mooresville [N.C.]."

Sitting on the sidelines is a place Stremme hopes never to be again.

"Lots of people were wondering what I was going to do and I just kept to myself and I'm fortunate to have had the help from the people around me," he said.

Looking to the future, Stremme is confident he can win races with Penske and Alltel, his sponsor who has signed a multi-year agreement with the No. 12 car. The crew chief or personnel surrounding the team has yet to be named, but Stremme said it's in the works.

In the meantime, he's going to continue test driving and reacquaint himself with life on the Cup side.