Mammoth Blog

There is no musical border between Texas and Mexico. And George Strait graphically proves this on his new CD, Twang, with his expressive version of a well-known song written by a Mexican musical icon.

And he sings it in Spanish. As he should, to present the song in its true form. "El Rey" (the king) was written by the Mexican singer and songwriter Jose Alfredo Jimenez, who is widely regarded as one of Mexico's pre-eminent songwriters. He was self-taught, wrote hundreds of songs and died young in 1973 of hepatitis at the age of 47. His tomb, marked by a huge sombrero, in the town of Dolores Hidalgo, Mexico, is said to be a major tourist attraction.

Musical bilingualism in Texas is very common, especially in South Texas where Strait is from, but it pervades the entire state. So his decision to record a well-known song by a Mexican musical icon is no surprise. And the matter of singing it in Spanish? Why not? Many Anglo artists in Texas have sung in Spanish, just as many Tejano singers in Texas have sung in English. "Spanish Is the Loving Tongue" is a familiar song, attributed to the western poet Charles Badger Clark, dating back to the early 20th century and it's a lyric much-sung by many singers since. And it's true. Spanish is a very musical language.

Jimenez's "El Rey" is a boasting song about a strutting macho man whose word is law and who regards himself as the king.

And Strait gets a bit of a vocal workout within the parameters of "El Rey," but he gets there and sounds very natural. This is not, after all, your usual George Strait album song. But it belongs here and, for my money, is the best cut on the album. Then again, I grew up in Texas and have always loved all the many strains of music that have flowed through the state. It all sounds natural, whether it's Western swing or honky-tonk or Tejano or R&B or polka.

Strait also visits the Texas rowdy R&B roadhouse tradition -- as opposed to the down-and-dirty honky-tonk country roadhouse -- with Delbert McClinton's "Some Kind of Crazy" (co-written with McClinton's longtime collaborator Gary Nicholson). You can hear the urgent feel of Delbert's get-loose-and-goosey phrasing in Strait's singing here. George is letting his hair down a bit. Good for him.

As a further reminder that he's not always the crisp and starched buttoned-down singer, Strait kicks it a bit looser yet with "Hot Grease and Zydeco." He sounds like he might have actually unbuttoned his cuffs and rolled up his shirtsleeves and gotten up and is raring to dance.

Throughout his decades of pre-eminence in country music, Strait has proved to be the canniest song picker around. He's always been the man with the best song ears around. Especially because he didn't write songs.

Now he does. Or rather, he co-writes three cuts here, with his son Bubba and with familiar song partner Dean Dillon. And he does well. George's son, Bubba, himself is coming into his own as a writer. I especially like his "Arkansas Dave," which he wrote by himself. It's a rousing, old-timey, fiddle and guitar saga about killings and horse theft and all the juicy things that country songs used to be about. And it's even got a shaggy dog ending, the way many of those songs used to end. And George clearly has fun singing it.

There is that same sort of energized spirit about George Strait throughout Twang, which I really love hearing from him at this stage in his career. After 38 studio albums, most artists would begin to sound burnt-out. But Strait is obviously still enjoying what he's doing and is ready for more.

At age 57, as the standard-bearer of country music, Strait seems to be feeling adventuresome. He probably has boots and saddles that are older than Taylor Swift. But that doesn't mean he's stuck in a time warp, as some artists do -- far too often. Twang feels in many ways to be one of his most satisfying ventures yet. May many more follow.

I wouldn't go so far as to suggest that George Strait may be the Uncle Walter Cronkite of country music. But he is a reassuring presence for the music and is its beacon of stability. source>>>

Trace Adkins will appear on an episode of A&E's popular reality show, Gene Simmons Family Jewels, on Sunday (Aug. 9). Adkins and Simmons co-starred in Celebrity Apprentice in 2008. In the new episode, Simmons visited Nashville as a favor to Kiss' manager to mentor a promising country band. Adkins comes by the recording studio for a surprise visit and to offer his opinion. Adkins competed in Celebrity Apprentice to raise money and awareness for food allergies. source>>>

Miranda Lambert has booked a headlining show at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on Sept. 24. Tickets go on sale on Aug. 14. She will release a new album, Revolution, on Sept. 29, and will perform it in its entirety at the concert. Lambert will also close the concert with hits from her first two albums. She is currently on tour with Kenny Chesney but plans a headlining tour for Revolution in the fall and winter. source>>>

An Alberta man who had his Xbox autographed last month by former Alaska governor Sarah Palin is selling it on eBay -- he's asking $1.1 million.

David Morrill put his gaming system on the website Thursday, along with the details on how he happened to acquire Palin's signature on it.

Morrill, who lives in Vimy, 65 kilometres north of Edmonton, drove the Alaska Highway last month and figured he should try to see "the most famous person from that state."

That's how he found himself at the governor's picnic in Wasilla July 24 -- two days before she left office -- where he managed to push his way to the front of the receiving line, Xbox in hand.

He told Palin that he had travelled three days to meet her, then asked her to autograph his Xbox as proof he had actually seen her.

Morrill said Palin happily obliged, and told him it was the "most extravagant" item she had ever been asked to sign.

"It was one of the greatest thrills of my life to have watched this person on CNN, SNL, YouTube and then to see her right in front of me," Morrill writes.

In an online promotion of the item, Morrill describes it this way: "You can own this 60GB, perfect-condition, one-of-a-kind item before her expected run for president of the United States of America in 2012."

So far, Morrill has not received any bids. source>>>

When I wrote a piece last week about the impact of a number of rule changes in eBay's (EBAY) seller program, many commenters weighed in against eBay. The article asked whether eBay's core of collectibles sellers would be hurt by the new system.

Online, in our comments and via Twitter retweets, many eBay sellers voiced their ire. eBay contacted me to respond to both the comments and the article. So in the interest of being a fair and balanced news site, here's an edited transcript of a Q&A with Todd Lutwak, eBay's Senior Director of Seller Development.

DailyFinance: So could you explain a little bit more about the changes that just took hold?

Todd Lutwak: All the changes are aligned behind the notion of rewarding sellers for creating great buyer experiences. We came up with a new formula to reward seller who are creating great experiences.

The new formula focuses on recognizing sellers who get the least amount of very low ratings. They will get a better discount rate (20 percent) on eBay's fee structure and will be recognized with a badge on their page.

DailyFinance: Some critics said these changes would penalize collectibles sellers, sellers who specialize in higher priced items because it's harder for them to maintain perfect feedback ratings.

Lutwak: That's absolutely not true. With this announcement, there are 86,000 sellers who will qualify for the top-rated seller program who did not previously qualify for the program as before. On the collectibles front, as it turns out, that is the number one category in which eBay sellers are top ranked. So the new program will actually put more collectibles sellers into the top-rated ranks than before, not the opposite. We're also lowering the threshold for number of transactions per year or value of transactions to allow more sellers to enter the program. That is enabling a lot of the collectible sellers by lowering their volume requirement.

DailyFinance: But will this still leave some sellers out who deserve to be rated top-seller but just get hit with one bad rating?

Lutwak: Not at all. Now that we've told them what the metric is, a lot of sellers will make the changes they need to make in the business in order to optimize and take advantage of the new system. In January of 2008 after the last big rule change, we saw the number of PowerSellers increase dramatically over the next six to 12 months. I think we'll see the same thing happen here as well. Within the first two days of the announcement, over 100,000 sellers went into the seller dashboard to understand where they are in the (new) ratings system. And the calls have been coming in with them asking us how they can improve. We've been really pleasantly surprised.

DailyFinance: Another complaint has been that the new system, by putting even stronger emphasis on ratings from past transactions, penalizes newer sellers.

Lutwak: Quite the contrary. New sellers starting out on eBay are the best place to start a small business in America. If you put an auction up on eBay and the ending time approaches, you get outstanding visibility, regardless of how long you've been selling on eBay. Even if they sell on fixed price, we will allow much more visibility on new items listed, particularly for a product that sells in relatively high volumes. But we also changed our algorithms to skew away from recent sales somewhat. Before, our primary source mechanism for picking those listings was number of recent sales. A listing that had sold 100 items got better placement than a listing that had sold 10. Now the new algorithm is based on recent sales divided by recent impressions. This benefits the newer listers on eBay. The new listers will get a quality ranking based on previous listed items under that description. We'll give it a certain number of impressions and based on the success or lack thereof we will move it up in search results if the listing does well.

DailyFinance: What about complaints that you are slowly phasing out the auction model?

Lutwak: We are format agnostic. We love auctions and fixed price. What's most important to the buyer is that we provide value, selection and great buying experience. Research we have says they can get that in multiple formats. We are not choosing one format over another. That choice is made by our buyers or sellers. source>>>

Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba.com Ltd. will launch its first major marketing effort in the U.S. on Monday, as it searches for growth amid the global recession.

The $30 million campaign aims to introduce U.S. entrepreneurs to Alibaba.com's English-language site, which offers materials to make everything from wedding dresses to gadgets, as well as resources to help sell the products to other businesses.

The push is Alibaba.com's latest effort to build its position outside China, where it runs one of the largest business-focused Web sites and is a well-known Internet brand.

Alibaba.com's English-language international site, in place since its founding a decade ago, already brings in the majority of the company's revenue. But the company, in which Yahoo Inc. is a significant shareholder, has been slow to grow in the U.S. As of March, only 1.3 million of Alibaba.com's 8.6 million users were U.S.-registered, according to the company. Alibaba.cn, the company's Chinese site, had 32 million registered users.

Kelly Sang, general manager of Alibaba.com Americas, acknowledges the site has yet to establish a solid brand in the U.S., where entrepreneurs gravitate towards eBay Inc. despite its different business model. While eBay targets consumers looking to buy or sell a specific product, Alibaba.com matches suppliers with wholesalers, an approach modeled after trade shows, which are pervasive in China. Rather than brokering transactions, Alibaba.com charges suppliers for listing items and for extra promotion, leaving them to seal the transaction off the site.

The company booked revenue of 3 billion yuan, or $439.2 million, in 2008. Profits, however, are tightening amid the recession.

The new, multimonth ad campaign, a version of which will appear in Europe and the Middle East, will target small business owners with success stories of entrepreneurs who made it big by sourcing materials through Alibaba.com, including one who started an oven mitt business. Ads carrying the slogan "Find it. Make it. Sell it." will run in print magazines like Fast Company and on Web sites like CNN Money, Ms. Sang said. The company also has bought television spots for the campaign on CNBC and on the ABC television show Shark Tank, which premieres Sunday, she said.

In addition to the ad campaign, Alibaba.com is reaching out to U.S. users with training videos, contests and events, and business development deals. Earlier this year, the company struck a promotional partnership with FedEx Corp., offering FedEx customers help using the site in exchange for FedEx giving Alibaba.com users a discount. To support the push, the company has built up Alibaba.com's U.S. staff to 17 from five employees last year. It plans further expansion for its Santa Clara, Calif., office in 2010.

The new U.S. ad campaign was designed with Traction, an ad agency in San Francisco.

Alibaba Group, which also owns a Chinese online payment service and online retail site Taobao, spun out its flagship Alibaba.com business to the public in 2007. source>>>

Ranking the best conferences in college football is a lot like ranking the best golfers in the world.

There's Tiger Woods and everybody else.

There's the SEC and everybody else.

The only debate is whether anybody is even in the same zip code.

Four times in the last six years, an SEC team has walked away with the BCS national championship. If you want to include the entire BCS era, going back to 1998, the league has five national titles.

That's not even counting the 2004 Auburn team that went 13-0 and never got a chance to play for the title.

And this season ... what doesn't the SEC have?

It has the best player in college football (Tim Tebow), two of the best coaches in college football (Urban Meyer and Nick Saban) and the kind of bone-jarring defenses that win championships. A year ago, eight SEC teams finished in the top 30 nationally in total defense.

Florida is clearly the class of the league and will try to join college football immortality this season by winning its third national championship in four years.

But the perennial cellar-dwellers have also gotten better. There are no gimmes in this league anymore. Vanderbilt won four SEC games last season and beat Boston College in the Music City Bowl. Kentucky has won three straight bowl games.

Four of the Top 10 teams in the recently released preseason coaches' poll reside in the SEC -- No. 1 Florida, No. 5 Alabama, No. 9 LSU and No. 10 Ole Miss.

Yep, it's not even close.

Here's my ranking of the top eight conferences:

1. SEC
2. Big 12
3. Pac-10
4. Big Ten
5. ACC
6. MWC
7. Big East
8. WAC source>>>

Five of the best 13 teams in college football are from the SEC, according to the 59 coaches who vote in the USA Today preseason poll.

The coaches' preseason Top 25 poll was released Friday, and Florida was an overwhelming choice as the No. 1 team. The defending national champion Gators received 53 of the 59 first-place votes.

Alabama was No. 5, LSU No. 9, Ole Miss No. 10 and Georgia No. 13.

The last time Ole Miss cracked the Top 10 in any of the polls was the tail end of Archie Manning's senior season in 1970. The Rebels were ranked No. 5 in the preseason poll that season.

So it's been a while -- nearly 40 years -- and clearly uncharted waters for the players on this team.

South Carolina (18), Auburn (12), Kentucky (9), Arkansas (6) and Tennessee (2) all received votes in the coaches' preseason poll.

The surprise there to me is that the Razorbacks didn't get more love. source>>>

No surprise at the top - with most of its starters returning from a national championship team, Florida is the preseason pick at No. 1 in the USA TODAY Top 25 college football coaches' poll.
The Gators got 53 of 58 first-place votes - No. 2 Texas (4) and No. 4 Southern Cal (1) also received nods for the top spot.

The ACC has four teams in the poll, including a surprising No. 20 pick for North Carolina. Virginia Tech, the preseason choice to win the ACC again, is No. 7. Georgia Tech, with Newland native and Western Carolina graduate Paul Johnson in his second season as head coach, is No. 15. Florida State is 19th.
Five other ACC teams recevied votes,but not enough to make the Top 25. Miami got 46 votes, followed by Clemson (30), N.C. State (7), Wake Forest (4) and Maryland (2).
East Carolina, which hosts Appalachian State in the season opener on Sept. 5, recevied two votes.
Here's the entire poll, with number of first-place votes and record in parentheses, total points and previous ranking.
USA Today Coaches' Poll
RANK TEAM RECORD PTS PVS
1. Florida (53) 0-0 1466 1
2. Texas (4) 0-0 1386 3
3. Oklahoma (1) 0-0 1358 5
4. USC (1) 0-0 1321 2
5. Alabama 0-0 1134 6
6. Ohio State 0-0 1126 11
7. Virginia Tech 0-0 1020 14
8. Penn State 0-0 988 8
9. LSU 0-0 917 NR
10. Mississippi 0-0 889 15
11. Oklahoma State 0-0 861 18
12. California 0-0 711 25
13. Georgia 0-0 707 10
14. Oregon 0-0 694 9
15. Georgia Tech 0-0 559 22
16. Boise State 0-0 542 13
17. TCU 0-0 461 7
18. Utah 0-0 404 4
19. Florida State 0-0 371 23
20. North Carolina 0-0 293 NR
21. Iowa 0-0 257 20
22. Nebraska 0-0 236 NR
23. Notre Dame 0-0 194 NR
24. Brigham Young 0-0 178 21
25. Oregon State 0-0 165 19
Others Receiving Votes
Kansas 138, Michigan State 136, Texas Tech 114, Cincinnati 90, Pittsburgh 64, West Virginia 55, Rutgers 51, Miami (FL) 46, Missouri 44, Illinois 38, Clemson 30, South Carolina 18, UCLA 14, Auburn 12, South Florida 11, Nevada 11, Kentucky 9, North Carolina State 7, Wisconsin 6, Arkansas 6, Northwestern 5, Southern Miss 4, Wake Forest 4, Arizona 3, Boston College 3, CENTRL MICHIGAN 3, East Carolina 3, Colorado 2, Maryland 2, Navy 2, Tennessee 2, TROY 1, Minnesota 1, Michigan 1, Houston 1.
source>>>

Come the November ballots, Ohioans will have the opportunity to vote for or against expanded casino gambling. Should the "yes" vote take victory, Ohio could see four full service casinos in the state. Racetracks have recently seen the inclusion of over 17,000 slot machines, and now gaming enthusiasts seek more. If more is set to arrive, there will be no short comings in the Ohio gambling scene.

Should gambling be legalized, some of the biggest names in the industry will be putting in bids to build within Ohio's borders. Harrah's Entertainment, one of the largest gambling purveyors world wide, has been mulling over the idea of a Cleveland based casino. The ballot is to take place in the Fall. Time is in abundance on the issue, and the big names in the business will be continuing to look down the issue to see if their is a possibility of a thriving casino atmosphere.

Ohio has one of the worst economies, state by state. The infusion of even one multi-national casino corporation's workforce could boost gains statewide. Tribal casinos have also been flourishing, so a bid by the Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun groups could provide a massive amount of cashflow to Ohio. Jobs will be created, materials will be utilized, and construction will commence. Trickle down economics may not have worked before, but in this instance the concept may pull through.

Ohio has shown some opposition to expanded gambling, however, and while the issue may be on the ballot, the whole concept is still in a veritable state of Limbo. Untill the voting takes place and the laws get passed, the desire of expanded gambling may as well be a rumor. There has been much controversy surrounding the situation, and the trouble may not abate anytime soon. Ohio is in desperate need of a new source of income, and legalized gambling, despite what pundits have to say, may be a way out for the state. source>>>

The NCAA will no longer hold championship tournaments in states that permit betting on single games.

Chancellors and presidents from all three NCAA divisions approved the measure Thursday, saying it applies to "any session of an NCAA championship." It does not apply to states that allow parlay betting, lottery tickets, pull tabs and sports pools.

The move came one day after a federal judge denied a request by professional sports leagues and the NCAA to halt Delaware's planned sports betting lottery until a legal challenge is resolved.

A 1992 federal ban on sports betting exempted four states -- Delaware, Nevada, Montana and Oregon -- that already offered sports gambling. Delaware wants to allow betting on single games, and on sports other than professional football. The sports leagues contend that Delaware's new lottery goes beyond what is allowed by the exemption.

The NCAA has taken a similar tack before. In 2001, the governing body banned postseason games from South Carolina and Mississippi to protest the use of a Confederate images on the statehouse grounds.

Wagering, however, is an issue NCAA officials believe poses a threat to its games, and the organization has consistently taken a hard line against allowing more single-game betting

In 2006, FBI agents were even dispatched to the NCAA men's basketball tournament to discuss gambling. It became clear they were needed when a couple of athletes got text messages from gamblers seeking inside information, an NCAA official said at the time.

The NCAA also has launched a Web site to advise schools to not allow ads or fundraisers that promote gambling, and has been studying how prevalent gambling is in college sports.

With states looking to find new revenue streams, some have turned to legalizing new forms of gambling.

Delaware, for example, believes it will raise $53 million from a sports betting lottery that was approved by the General Assembly in May. It is the only state east of the Rocky Mountains to offer legalized sports wagering.

The policy, however, allows sports pools, ending fears at the University of Montana in Missoula. Montana hosted three Football Championship Subdivision playoff games last fall, but state and university officials argued that Montana law allows betting on fantasy sports leagues, not on the outcome of single events.

"I applaud the NCAA for coming to a commonsense conclusion that preserves Montana's right to host playoff and tournament games," Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock said in a prepared statement. "Montana wholeheartedly supports its student athletes. Along with the NCAA, we remain committed to protecting the integrity of collegiate sports." source>>>

Lowe's will not renew its naming rights of Lowe's Motor Speedway when its contract expires after this season.

Lowe's cited changing marketing strategies Thursday as the reason it won't return in 2010. The home improvement chain signed as sponsor of then-Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1999 in the first major naming rights deal of a NASCAR track.

The Sports Business Journal reported last week that Lowe's would not come back in 2010, but Speedway Motorsports Inc. president Marcus Smith insisted as late as Wednesday that the talks were continuing on a new deal.

Lowe's will continue its primary sponsorship of three-time defending NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson. source>>>

As NASCAR transitions to a new type of car for its second-tier Nationwide Series next year, NASCAR and others hoped that Detroit would use racing versions of its iconic "muscle cars" to widen the series' appeal.

The idea of having stock-car racing versions of the Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger fighting for Victory Lane each weekend was thought to be just what the Nationwide Series needed to make itself more distinctive from NASCAR's top-tier Sprint Cup Series.

Ads by Google

Official GM Site

Change at GM is Under Way. Visit Official Site to See How.

www.GMReinvention.com

2010 Chevy Camaro Prices

Find our our Lowest Possible Pricing on a New Chevrolet Camaro!

www.CarPriceSecrets.com
And Ford signed on last week, unveiling a version of its famed Mustang that will be attached to the new chassis that NASCAR plans to start phasing into the Nationwide Series next year, with the car becoming mandatory in 2011.

But Ford might turn out to be the exception.

General Motors' Chevrolet will not run the Camaro in the Nationwide Series but will use the Impala instead, said Mark Kent, manager of GM Racing.

And Dodge -- a unit of Chrysler that, like General Motors, recently emerged from bankruptcy proceedings -- has not decided which car to enter despite widespread media speculation that it would use the Challenger, Dodge Motorsports spokesman Dan Reid said.

In fact, Dodge hasn't determined whether it will support any type of Dodge in the Nationwide Series, a series in which the automakers have pulled back sharply in the face of sluggish auto sales and their financial woes.

"It's something that is being considered, but we cannot confirm our future participation in the series," Reid said. He declined to elaborate. (Toyota, which also competes, is expected to continue using its Camry model.)

So the notion of the Nationwide Series' being the new battleground for Detroit's muscle cars could wind up being just that -- a notion only.

NASCAR isn't giving up on the idea, however.

"We're hoping they see an opportunity here to market their muscle cars or 'pony cars,' " said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's vice president for competition. "We're optimistic there will be more to follow" Ford, he added.

Just as the Sprint Cup Series last year switched to the so-called Car of Tomorrow, a chassis designed to increase safety and foster better competition, the Nationwide Series is shifting to a new chassis that also has safety improvements and more interchangeable parts intended to help race teams keep costs in check.

NASCAR expects the car will be used in five or six Nationwide races next year, roughly one per month in the second half of the season, before they're used full time in 2011, Pemberton said.

There's been grumbling for years that the Nationwide Series bears too much resemblance to the Sprint Cup Series, not just in terms of the cars but because several Cup drivers also compete on the Nationwide circuit.

"It's important to further differentiate the series right now," said Pemberton, adding that he was "thrilled" with the new Mustang. "They've done a tremendous job on the car," he said.

But Chevrolet balked at pitting its Camaro against the Mustang, largely because the new Nationwide car has strict design requirements and must fit within a variety of NASCAR templates, Kent said.

"NASCAR asked us to look at running the Camaro in the Nationwide Series," Kent said, but "as we looked at trying to fit the Camaro into the required templates, we just could not get to a design that we felt did not compromise the iconic lines" of the Camaro.

"For that reason we have elected to run the Impala," he said.

Asked whether Chevy feared losing publicity to the Mustang at Nationwide races, Kent said, "We also need to focus our marketing efforts on expanding the customer base outside of motor sports."

With automakers still in distress, how could Ford develop a new race car?

"It's been going on for several years; it's not something that's a fixed cost that got dumped into this year," Ford spokesman Kevin Kennedy said.

"Our job is to develop one car and to work with NASCAR. Then we start building parts and pieces which are bought by the race teams.

"The true job of the manufacturer in most racing series is to develop the car and the engine, then offer it up to our customers, the teams. It's definitely within our budget."

The Nationwide Series' next stop in Southern California is Oct. 10 with the Camping World 300 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, followed the next day by the Pepsi 500 Sprint Cup race. source>>>

Kenny Chesney, Taylor Swift and Keith Urban are among the artists on the upcoming compilation, Now That's What I Call Country, Volume 2, which will be released on Aug. 25. The collection also features hits (in order of track listing) by Rascal Flatts, Montgomery Gentry, Trace Adkins, Carrie Underwood, Alan Jackson, Josh Turner, Sugarland, Miranda Lambert, Gary Allan, Jamey Johnson, Darius Rucker, Dierks Bentley, Jake Owen, Eric Church, Billy Currington, Lady Antebellum and George Strait. The CD will also unlock free downloads from new artists David Nail, Easton Corbin, Chris Young, Caitlin & Will and Emily West. The first volume was released in 2008. souece>>>

Sam Hornish Jr. climbed out of his No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge Monday afternoon in Pocono, Pa., allowed himself to crack a smile and looked forward to receiving a call from his boss, Roger Penske.

Fourth place.

It wasn't exactly cause for celebration for Hornish, who owns three IndyCar championships and an Indianapolis 500 ring. But his hard-fought finish was a career best and gives him five top-10 Sprint Cup efforts.

It was progress.

"Well, yes it was [progress],'' Hornish allowed in a telephone interview with FanHouse this week. "But ultimately I want to win. We're getting closer and closer and I do see the light at the end of the tunnel.''

It's a good indication that Hornish the most-decorated, least-hyped of the recent open-wheel defectors is figuring this stock car business out. It's time to go and he knows it.

It's been a rough-and-tumble transition from the IndyCar Series to NASCAR's top Sprint Cup ranks for Hornish, who hasn't gone this long (nearly two full seasons) without a win since he moved from go-karts to Formula Fords as a teenager back in the late-1990s.

As accomplished but less-heralded than other marquee names to convert from open-wheel to NASCAR in the last few seasons, Hornish made the full-time move to NASCAR in 2008 -- the same time as Dario Franchitti and on the heels of Juan Pablo Montoya.

They are both flashy commodities and headline grabbers compared to Hornish, a quiet 30-year old from Bryan, Ohio.

Franchitti, a Scot whose Cup Series ride only lasted a half season, walks Hollywood red carpets with his wife, actress Ashley Judd. Montoya came to NASCAR just after returning from a respectful Formula One foray around the globe.

Hornish, the All-American "kid next door" likes to go bowling in his spare time and still lives near his parents in rural northwestern Ohio, where he is a local hero who has donated almost $2 million dollars to projects, including a senior center in honor of his late grandmother.

When it was time for Hornish to make the high-profile move to NASCAR, it didn't receive nearly the attention of the others despite having a resumé that stacks up to most of open-wheel's best. But Hornish doesn't care about those kind of things. His record speaks for itself.

He has three times the number of IndyCar titles as Tony Stewart and Franchitti and just as many Indy 500 wins (one) and Formula One world championships (zero) as Montoya.

Sam Hornish Jr.Two years after Hornish left the IndyCar Series, Scott Dixon has just tied his all-time win mark of 19. Two years removed from competition, Hornish still has led more laps than anyone in that series' history.

This is a prodigy who earned two World Karting Association (WKA) national championships, including a 19-win season in 1994, when he finished in the top-five 43 times in 55 starts.

Since making the difficult technical transition to stock cars, Hornish has often been a punch line, his car a punching bag on-track. And people forget how accomplished a racer he is.

What he lacks in flair, he makes up for in substance. That's why the legendary Penske hired him in 2004. Two years later Hornish delivered a championship and Penske's 14th Indy 500 victory. And that's when the pair agreed to let Hornish eventually take the next logical but difficult step in his career -- NASCAR. What more did he have to accomplish in open-wheel?

Hornish made only a handful of Nationwide and ARCA Series starts in 2007 before a full-time Cup Series gig last year. With the testing ban this season, it's been harder to make up ground as driver or team. Few realize that his No. 77 team wasn't an intact operation simply moved up from the Nationwide Series or moved over from another driver.

"We started from the ground up,'' Hornish said. "It was like finding the right pieces of the puzzle wherever we could find them. We've changed some pieces since then and I feel like we have a great team, a lot of young guys, a lot of people learning right with me.''

In this photo taken on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2009, driver Kyle Busch sits in the garage at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa., during practice for the NASCAR Pennsylvania 500 auto race. The emotional driver knows he has to get going over the next five races or else he'll be left out of championship contention. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

David Reutimann, left, is bumped by Denny Hamlin coming out of the second turn during the NASCAR Pennsylvania 500 auto race at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa., Monday, Aug. 3, 2009. Hamlin won the race and Reutimann finished 29th. (AP Photo/Russ Hamilton Jr.)

Marcos Ambrose (47) drives his wrecked race car back to the pits for repairs as Jimmie Johnson (48) drives past during the NASCAR Pennsylvania 500 auto race Monday, Aug. 3, 2009, at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa. Denny Hamlin won the race. (AP

Sam Hornish Jr. leads Martin Truex Jr. as they race through turn three during the NASCAR Pennsylvania 500 auto race at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa., Monday, Aug. 3, 2009. Hornish finished fourth and Truex finished 19th. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

That learning curve has been steep. Last year, he had only two top-20 finishes and failed to qualify for the season-ender at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

He's 27th in the points standings entering Sunday's race in Watkins Glen, N.Y., but has 10 finishes of 30th or worse to go along with his five top-10s. That inconsistency frustrates Hornish most. Each time he's had a top-10 finish, the next race he's finished 29th or worse -- often a victim of tough luck.

"This season there have been quite a few times I felt like he deserved a better finish and something happened out of his control, something would just go wrong,'' Penske Racing president Tim Cindric said. "This weekend was a case where opportunity finally came and he took advantage of it.

"You keep knocking on the door and eventually it's going to open. At the same time, a top-five is great but that should be the expectation not the exception and Sam won't be happy until that happens.''

Hornish's competitors are taking notice of his improved runs and he feels like he's slowly gained the respect needed for the side-by-side give-and-take or to be a drafting partner.

His boss is pleased, too. Penske told reporters earlier this year that he expected a top-25 finish in the points standings for Hornish.

"This is the year, he's got to make it,'' Penske said in April. "Sam's got a lot of pressure on him and 1 of 43 [drivers] is a lot different than 1 in 20. But we have all the confidence in the world in Sam.''

Fortunately for Hornish he also possesses something as necessary as his bosses' blessing and pure talent: great perspective.

"It takes time,'' Hornish said. "I knew it was going to be difficult, but I also knew I wasn't going to give up.'' source>>>