Apparently tired of being the best in the IRL, Sam Hornish, Jr. is becoming the latest open-wheel star to take on the new challenge of stock-car racing, as the three-time IRL champ is becoming the newest member of the Penske NEXTEL (or Sprint, rather) Cup team, joining up with Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman.

Hornish will be the new driver of the #77 car, with Mobil 1 as the sponsor. With him making the full-time switch to NASCAR’s top flight, that means the last two Indy 500 champs are going to be racing together in stock cars next season, with 2007 champ Dario Franchitti driving for Ganassi Racing.

Hornish’s move for NASCAR was more of a matter of ‘when’ and not ‘if.’ He raced in two Busch races last season, and has driven in seven Busch races this season. He’s also tried to qualify for six NEXTEL Cup races, but hasn’t qualified for any of them, which is why the move might seem a little too soon for some.

But, if there’s a team where he could succeed, it’s Penske, where he’s raced for the last four seasons in the IRL, during which he won eight races and the 2005 points title. He’ll not only be with a familiar team, but an established team, where he’ll have ample chance to succeed. And, there’s a chance he won’t have to worry about qualifying for the first five races of next season, if Penske decides to move the owner points Kurt Busch has over to Hornish, since Busch doesn’t have to worry about qualifying.

That would eliminate the potential issues that Patrick Carpentier and Jacques Villenueve will face, and what A.J. Allmendinger has faced this season, after coming over from Champ Car. Dario Franchitti is joining a team in the top 35 in owner points, and thusly locked into the first five races of next year, which is the situation Juan Montoya was fortunate to be in.

Montoya is currently 21st in points, and has been locked into every race, while Allmendinger has qualifed for only 17 of 34 races this season. So, if there’s an advantage to be had with getting in those first five races (and there is), then you would think that Penske would go that route and let Hornish have the free pass to the first five races, and let him take care of business from there.

With all of these open-wheelers moving to NASCAR, one has to wonder how the Champ Car/IRL head honchos are feeling right now, with several of their headliners leaving, and more to make the move soon enough more than likely (Danica Patrick has been mentioned with a move to NASCAR, and possibly Dan Wheldon as well).

Gene Haas, the owner of Haas CNC Racing, was sentenced to two years in federal prison yesterday for tax fraud, after he thought he could somehow not get caught not paying more than $34 million in taxes.

Haas plead guilty to a conspiracy charge this summer, after he came up with a plan to write off fake expenses as business expenses, by which his company, Haas Automation, would save millions.

But, because Haas didn’t take into consideration that you can’t slip that kind of thing by the government for long, he’s had to pay twice the amount in back taxes, interest, and fines.

I suppose it’s a little too late to say ‘Oops, I shouldn’t have done that…’ now, isn’t it?

Martin Truex, Jr. is out of the championship hunt, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to throw in the towel. Truex, who is the only driver mathematically eliminated from the title race, won the pole for Sunday’s Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway with a lap of 27.964 seconds.

Jeff Gordon, who’s seen his points lead dwindle in the last two weeks, will have a great chance to win for the first time at Texas, as he will start second in tomorrow’s race. Texas is one of the two current venues that Gordon hasn’t won at, but a win on Sunday would not only be a milestone win for him, but would also go a long way towards in helping him claim the championship.

The top five was rounded out by Juan Montoya, who could have some valuable momentum going into next year if he can finish his rookie season strong, and Kevin Harvick and A.J. Allmendinger in fifth. Allmendinger had the best qualifying run of his short career, and will be chasing his first top-ten finish

Kurt Busch qualified sixth, and Chevrolets represented the rest of the top ten, as Denny Hamlin qualified seventh, with Jimmie Johnson starting eighth tomorrow and looking to take over the points lead from teammate Gordon. Their Hendrick teammate, Casey Mears will start ninth, with Mark Martin alongside him in the fifth row.

As for the rest of the Chasers, Tony Stewart will start 15th, Kyle Busch 17th, Matt Kenseth 18th, Carl Edwards 21st, Jeff Burton 27th, and Clint Bowyer 29th. It was another subpar qualifying effort for Bowyer, who has qualified 23rd or worse in five straight races and six of the last seven. However, he has rebounded to run well in each race, and will need to do so again on Sunday in order to keep his championship hopes alive.

Will Gordon finally be able to break his Texas goose egg and move one step closer to a deserved title? Or will Johnson win his first race at Texas and take control of the championship race? More importantly, will either take control of the title race Sunday, or will they falter and give any of the drivers who are well behind a chance to climb back into it? I’ll be here with race updates and analysis tomorrow, and the race will be on ABC (3 ET/2 CT), in case you want to catch the race live as well.

New Hampshire International Speedway, home to two NEXTEL Cup races, has reportedly been sold to Bruton Smith, the head honcho of Speedway Motorsports, Inc., the owner of several Cup tracks, including Lowe’s Motor Speedway, and headline-maker.

Will this sale have any influence on the Cup schedule?

Several possibilities are being thrown around right now. One is that one of the Loudon dates (likely the fall one) would be swapped out of with one of the other SMI-owned track’s dates (Texas has been mentioned), so that Texas Motor Speedway could host the first Chase race.

Another potential possibility is that one of the Loudon dates could be taken away, and that a potential new host would be Las Vegas, which is always mentioned anytime some sort of opportunity comes open in a sport (baseball, basketball, football, NASCAR).

The other possibility is that Loudon could keep both of its races and both of its dates.

What do you think will happen? Do you think anything will happen?

Jeremy Mayfield is replacing Jeff Green as the driver for the Haas CNC #66 car for the rest of the season and next year. Mayfield has been well-traveled in the last few seasons, moving from Everham Motorsports to Bill Davis Racing and now to Haas.

Mayfield was released from his contract with BDR in August, though he was set to finish out his first and only season there until he signed with Haas. He has qualified for 13 of 32 races, and has a season-high finish of 22nd in the LifeLock 400 three weeks ago.

Now that both Scott Riggs and Mayfield are on the Haas roster, Johnny Sauter, who currently drives the #70, is going to have to look for a new team, as Riggs and Mayfield will drive the #66 and #70 next year.

To replace Mayfield in the #36, Bill Davis Racing will turn to Mike Skinner and Johnny Benson for the last four events of the season. Skinner is the current points leader in the Craftsman Truck Series and is a veteran of 244 Cup starts. He will drive the next two weeks at Atlanta and Texas, while Benson, who has 272 Cup starts, will race the last two events at Phoenix and Homestead.

I’ll have the complete grid for you shortly, but the series points leader gets his weekend off to the perfect start by winning the pole for this weekend’s Subway 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Gordon wins his seventh pole of the season and will start from the front in search of his third straight win in the Chase, his seventh of the season, and his eighth at Martinsville.

Martin Truex, Jr., Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, and Kasey Kahne round out the top five. Kyle Busch qualified sixth, with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. seventh, J.J. Yeley eighth, Jamie McMurray ninth, and Tony Raines having a solid day, putting himself in the 10th position for Sunday’s race.

Kurt Busch was 11th, but past him, no other Chase driver finished in the top 15. So, you could consider it a relatively subpar day for Chase drivers, after a few strong qualifying weekends.

With Gordon starting up front, that’s not good news for the guys behind him, as he looks to give himself more distance from the pack and close in on the championship. But, from the looks of it, he’s going to have to contend with his Hendrick teammate, just as he did in April’s race.

I’ll have the full starting lineup shortly, and remember to come back between now and Sunday for news updates, and on Sunday, watch for in-race and post-race updates and analysis on the sixth race of the Chase, and maybe the most exciting yet, as the guys take to the short track this weekend.

J.J. Yeley ran a time of 20.04 seconds to slot into eighth position, pushing Kurt Busch into 11th with four drivers remaining.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. ran a time of 20.03 seconds to move himself into 7th on the grid. We’ve only got a handful of drivers to go, including Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton (who goes last), who are the only remaining Chasers to take their laps.

Kurt Busch ran a time of 20.07, which puts him just ahead of Ryan Newman and just behind Tony Raines. Kasey Kahne just ran a time of 20.02, with his lap just beating out Kyle Busch’s time (94.585 mph to 94.562 mph) to disrupt the five for five for Chase drivers at the top.

Jimmie Johnson, who is currently second in the Chase, 68 points behind teammate Jeff Gordon, ran a time of 20.01 to move into fourth on the board. Looks like the Hendrick cars will be the guys to beat yet again, as Gordon (1st), Johnson (4th), and Busch (5th) are all sure to start at the front of the field. Casey Mears is currently 15th, after he ran a lap of 20.15 seconds.