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TALLADEGA, Ala. _ Earlier this week it was announced Shell/Pennzoil would be leaving Richard Childress Racing to become the primary sponsor for Kurt Busch at Penske Racing. With Shell making the long-term move to Penske Mobil 1 was forced out, leaving Sam Hornish Jr. without a sponsor for 2011. In the final year of his contract, Hornish now has the added pressure of courting sponsors while renegotiating his deal with the team.

Friday, Jay W. Pennell was able to catch up with Hornish at the Talladega Superspeedway to discuss his view on the situation and his outlook moving forward.

Jay W. Pennell: News came out this week that Mobil 1 is leaving – not to mention your contract with Penske is up at the end of the year. With Mobil 1 leaving, how hard is it now to move forward with the process of resigning with Penske and what do you think your outlook is on that?

Sam Hornish Jr.: A lot of things had to move around in the team in order for us to get everything reworked and to be where we’re at. Mobil 1 was not able to commit to us what Shell/Pennzoil could for Kurt, and obviously you can’t have to oil companies on the same team. It was a business decision so they could get two of their cars all worked out.

Count NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Ryan Newman among the people who believe the moon landing never happened. Said the Rocket Man, "I'm pretty sure (the original moon landing) was fake. I watched the documentary on it, and it's pretty easy to believe. The flag was standing straight out when there's no wind up there. When they step on the surface, there should have been a big cloud because there's no atmosphere." But that's not all he said. In a fascinating interview with the News-Record's Dustin Long, Newman also revealed that:

CHARLOTTE _ I recently had a chance to talk to Zack Skolnick, an up-and-comer who is attempting to become a professional driver. What separates Skolnick from many others is that he has a backup plan. In addition to racing, he is a sophomore at Belmont-Abbey College in North Carolina where he is studying for a business degree with a focus on motorsports.

The New Jersey native began racing go-karts 12 years ago at Oakland Valley Race Park in New York. “I’m still racing karts,” he said. “If you look at NASCAR, if you look at Formula 1, they all started in go-karts. Even though I am racing cars I still run karts to stay fresh.” He was part of the team that won the inaugural 24-hour race at Victory Lane Karting Center in Charlotte. He also races a spec Miata in SCCA and has run Legend cars.

Skolnick moved to North Carolina to pursue his education and his career. Last winter he gained valuable oval-track experience in the Winter Heat Series at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. He is a candidate to be a driver in the Caged Heat Series, which is an indoor racing tour with cars based on a smaller Sprint Cup car design. The circuit will travel to indoor arenas and races will be held on steeply banked, lexan surface tracks. “If I get picked it will definitely be a step in the right direction,” he said.

CATAWBA, N.C. _ As NASCAR wraps up its 2009 season in sunny Homestead, Fla., over 800 miles to the north former Sprint Cup driver Jeremy Mayfield held an auction to sell off his personal property and real estate. Nearly 3,000 people showed up on a sunny, fall day to bid on items that ranged from vintage cars to heavy equipment to a 13,000 square-foot home.

Mayfield was suspended in May after NASCAR announced the independent owner/driver had failed a drug test. Involved in numerous lawsuits with NASCAR since, Mayfield has fought to clear his name. Friday served as an opportunity to raise some much-needed cash.

Brian Denne, who lives less than half-a-mile from the property, stopped by for a look at the land he often drove past. Talking with this neighbor, it was clear he felt Mayfield was done wrong. “It could happen to all of us,” Denne said. “He looks like a nice guy with a nice family. It’s really a shame.”

The auction began as a way for the couple to downsize its lifestyle. After more thought, the Mayfields decided to put their private property and real estate on the auction block and start over.

Inside the stables where Iron Horse Auctions conducted the sale, members of the crowd bid as an auctioneer talked a mile-a-minute. Mayfield was in the crowd. In another part of the building his wife Shana had set out some of her clothes and personal items for sale.

With their belongings being sold around them, it would have been understandable for the Mayfields to look down, but that was not the case. Both Jeremy and Shana laughed and joked with friends.

“We’re not going to let it get us down,” Shana said. “We’re fighting and we’re going to keep fighting. I’d rather be here today than in Homestead, to be honest with you. I don’t want to be around people that have treated us the way they’ve treated us and how things have gone down.

“It’s exciting for us. The auction’s fun. We’re having a good time, getting rid of a lot of stuff. It’s fun. It’s just stuff. That’s what we all have to realize. It’s just stuff. What’s important is we’re healthy, we’re happy, we have each other, we’ve got our friends and family and that’s all that matters at the end of the day.”

Jeremy gave up his seat in the crowd to meet with a buyer behind the building. The former driver bent down to sign pieces of sheet metal off his No. 41 car. The buyer won the pieces in the auction and planned to sell them on his eBay store. He said Mayfield still has fans and added that NASCAR was running Mayfield out of the sport.

When I asked Jeremy for an interview, he looked at me and responded, “Man, they’re selling my land. I’ve got to be in there.”

During a break, I caught up with the five-time Cup Series winner. Our conversation touched on a variety of topics that included his lawsuits, his comments about being a scapegoat for other drug users in the sport, NASCAR chairman Brian France and where he goes from here.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said it was his public meltdown in Charlotte a few weeks ago that led to the National Enquirer story that claimed he was in a death spiral. During a wide-ranging interview, Earnhardt told USA Today that he thought the Enquirer story was "fun" and a "compliment." So let that be a lesson to all of you Junior haters leaving comments on this site. Dale Earnhardt Jr. will not be wounded by your "compliments"!