CAN I GET AN AMEN HALLELUAH?
DAVID POOLE
dpoole@charlotteobserver.com
Jeff Gordon is the latest driver to have his say about negotiations for a new contract between Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Dale Earnhardt Inc, the company that Earnhardt Jr.’s stepmother, Teresa Earnhardt runs.
“He’s the driving force and I think that needs to be recognized,” Gordon said of Earnhardt Jr. “He’s the guy the sponsors want and the fans want. ...If that thing is not going to blow up in a big way they’d better figure out a way to come to terms.
“Dale Jr. can write his own ticket. He can go anywhere he wants and his sponsors can go with him and the fans will go with him. He could start his own team or he could go to any organization. He’s in the best seat you could possibly be in in this sport and I don’t know if Teresa is really recognizing that.
“I hate it is happening for him. ...You want to see that organization stay alive and I think the only way it’s going to be there is for Dale Jr. to still be there.”
Banquet 2007: NYC? Vegas? It looks like NASCAR has decided it no longer needs the media capital of the world to be the gathering place of its yearly season-ending awards banquet. News out of Charlotte yesterday during the annual Lowe’s Motor Speedway Media Tour indicates NASCAR might be strongly considering moving the awards banquet from The Big Apple to Las Vegas. After a 21-year relationship with the prestigious Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, maybe it’s high time NASCAR move from Manhattan to Vegas. NASCAR has pushed real hard to get the local newspapers in NYC interested in Champions Week and the lack of coverage from the major dailies this past December was pretty poor, to say the least. While the Boston Herald was there for the final two days of the event, other big city papers like the New York Post, Daily News, the Times, and Newsday pretty much were a no-show.(Boston Herald)
AND: Is the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup banquet definitely going back to New York City, where it has been for more than a quarter of a century? Well, despite some recent announcements that talked about this year's banquet in the Big Apple, that's still be determined. "It's fair to say that we're still evaluating where the 2007 banquet will take place," said Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR vice president of operations. It's no secret that we like New York, but we're still evaluating."(SceneDaily.com)(1-25-2007)
Personally I don't see them moving the banquet, but with Nascar these days anything is possible I guess.
JAYSKI