Def Secy Rumsfeld at Richmond Nascar Race - Live Thread (on TNT at 7pm EDT / 4 pm PDT)

Nascar.com ^

[WestCoastGal]

NASCAR CHEVY ROCK & ROLL 400

***Richmond Int'l Raceway***

[NormsRevenge]

Dale Junior on Dale Sr.

"He had ya beat before ya got in the car."

[glock rocks]

the ole man had the tude.

[WestCoastGal]

I had to walk the dog, I missed it. ;-(

But, I can see it again at midnight!!

He will be on Regis and Kelly and the Today show on 9-16.

He's been everywhere this week, Best Damn Sports Show, ESPN news, personal appearance for Drakar Noir in Pa.

Here's the BDSS video link. Click on sports, then more Fox sports, then Jr's picture.

http://video.msn.com/video/p.htm

[NormsRevenge]

You and his PR folks will be happy to know he was clean shaven and his hair was combed. :-D

[Bobby Chang]

In the News/Activism forum, on a thread titled Nascar Chevy Rock&Roll 400 @ Richmond, see Sec'y Rumsfeld & Pre-race 9-11 Tribute on TNT @ 7pm ET , WestCoastGal wrote:

The track is preparing a special pre-race ceremony for Saturday, which is Patriot Day. The schedule includes a rendition of "God Bless America" by Irish Tenor Ronan Tynan, the National Anthem by rising pop star Kylie Dean and a flyover featuring four F-16's from the 192nd Fighter Wing of the Virginia Air National Guard.

Of course Sec'y Rumsfeld will lead the Pledge of Allegiance.

Naturally so for Rummy.  But as for the National Anthe, another pop star.  Some pop stars have caused the Oval Office to be busy.  The Oval Office was at its busiest for MTV VMA no-talents who bleeped or screamed their way to the Office, but some poor renditions of the Anthem sing improperly can result in a penalty to be called.

To me, she (see picture) set the standard in how to sing a National Anthem properly.  (I saw her do it live in a local event in May.  Look out, Boston.  This Michigan Cheesehead is now in your neck of the woods and will sing so well she will blow away may pop stars who abuse it (such as McKnight, Secada, Simpson, and these various pop stars, many of whom have no talent).  She has the book which she "gave" me hints, and I'd trust her for a National Anthem over anyone else.

The flyovers are always perfect.  I love them!

[NormsRevenge]

Drivers to play for charity on 'Family Feud'
September 7, 2004
02:46 PM EDT (18:46 GMT)

http://www.nascar.com/2004/news/headlines/official/09/07/familyfeud_nascar/index.html


LOS ANGELES -- NASCAR and the venerable syndicated program "Family Feud" have teamed up to create a week of special NASCAR-themed game play.

NASCAR drivers, representing NASCAR's top three competition series, will lead their NASCAR families -- made up of crew chiefs, pit crew members, family members, and more -- in the "Survey Says!" game show format to benefit their favorite charities.

Family Feud "NASCAR Week" is scheduled to air the week of November 8-12.

Participating drivers and the charities they will be playing for are: Ward Burton for The Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation; Kevin Harvick for Victory Junction Gang Camp; Bill Lester for Urban Youth Racing School; Sterling Marlin for Boys and Girls Club of Nashville; Jeremy Mayfield for Victory Junction Gang Camp; Casey Mears for Target House; Elliott Sadler for Autism Society of America; and Kenny Wallace for Autism Society of America.

"NASCAR and 'Family Feud' have something in common as one of the nation's most popular sports and one of its most popular game shows, respectively," stated Cecile Frot-Coutaz, chief operating officer of FremantleMedia North America, which produces the program. "It is a real treat to have these incredible drivers competing for charity, and we are certain their dedicated fans will be cheering for their favorites all the way through the week."

"NASCAR on 'Family Feud' is guaranteed to be a must watch! The show's format and popularity provide an excellent platform to showcase our driver's, their crew's, families' and friend's great personalities and passion to compete. This is a fresh and unique way to integrate NASCAR and the NASCAR drivers into creative entertainment programs," said Sarah Nettinga, director, film, television and music entertainment, NASCAR.

The episodes will tape on Sept. 1, just prior to the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Pop Secret 500 at California Speedway in nearby Fontana, Calif. Each of the drivers will bring four of their racing team "family" members to help them compete. Each episode of "Family Feud" during NASCAR Week will feature two NASCAR teams.

[steveegg]

Temporary placeholder (I miss the 250-post self-search).

[WestCoastGal]

WE REMEMBER THOSE WHO LOST THEIR LIVES ON 9-11

[WestCoastGal]

Jayski's Attack On America Tribute from Nascar page.....(previous paint schemes and news of team tributes)


http://jayski.thatsracin.com/attackhelp.htm

[WestCoastGal]

[WestCoastGal]

[Wolfstar]

Beautiful graphic, WCG. As for me, I don't just want to remember, I have wanted to fight back in some way ever since that terrible day. So I'm heading over to my local Bush-Cheney/Rep HQ shortly to do some phone canvassing. If it's all I can do, it's what I will do.

[WestCoastGal]

Thankfully there are so many of us who will always remember and will fight back no matter what they hit us with. For this reason our country will survive no matter what.

Thank you for volunteering to help President Bush win his re-election!!

[Bobby Chang]

President Bush sent Usama to the Oval Office (NASCAR's, not The White House), and promptly fined and suspended Usama. He's run the 'ban and Al Qaeda into the wall, and his put Saddam in the fence for good.

[WestCoastGal]

CONTENDER SCENARIOS:
15) #29-Kevin Harvick....has to gain 56 points on tenth place OR has to beat Jimmy Johnson by 80 points, Jeff Gordon by 30 points, and lose 36 points or less to Earnhardt Jr. to win wild card spot. STARTS: 27th

14) #19-Jeremy Mayfield....has to gain 55 points on tenth place OR has to beat Jimmy Johnson by 79 points, Jeff Gordon by 29 points, and lose 35 points or less to Earnhardt Jr. to win wild card spot.STARTS: 7th

13) #88-Dale Jarrett....has to gain 43 points on tenth place OR has to beat Jimmy Johnson by 67 points, Jeff Gordon by 17 points, and lose 49 points or less to Earnhardt Jr. to win wild card spot.STARTS: 25th

12) #Bobby Labonte....Has to gain 36 points on tenth place OR has to beat Jimmy Johnson by 60 points, Jeff Gordon by 10 points, and lose 56 points or less to Earnhardt Jr. to win wild card spot.STARTS: 18th

11) #42-Jamie McMurray....Has to gain 25 points on tenth place OR has to beat Jimmy Johnson by 49 points, lose by one point or less to Jeff Gordon, and lose 67 points or less to Earnhardt Jr. to win wild card spot.STARTS: 36th

10) #6-Mark Martin....Has to lose 24 points or less to five contenders OR has to beat Jimmy Johnson by 24 points, lose 26 points or less to Jeff Gordon, and lose 92 points or less to Earnhardt Jr. to win wild card spot.STARTS: 2nd

9) #9-Kasey Kahne....Has to lose 33 points or less to five contenders OR has to beat Jimmy Johnson by 15 points, lose 35 points or less to Jeff Gordon, and 101 points or less to Earnhardt Jr. to win wild card spot.STARTS: 11th

8) #12-Ryan Newman....Has to lose 45 points or less to five contenders OR Has to beat Jimmy Johnson by 4 points, lose 46 points or less to Jeff Gordon, and 112 points or less to Earnhardt Jr. to win wild card spot.STARTS: 1st

If there are more than 10 drivers, the 11th-place driver will have his total reset to 5,000. If there are any other drivers who qualify, they also will be at 5,000 points.
AND see a good Q&A article at ThatsRacin.com:

[WestCoastGal]

[WestCoastGal]

Robby (crash) Gordon wins his first Bursch race last night.

[WestCoastGal]

A MUST READ FROM THE LADY IN BLACK

---

By Patty Kay


September 11, 2004

Author's note: The memories contained herein are only my own. They're all I have, after all. Each and every one of us has our own personal memories of September 11, 2001, and they are all as different as we are. Thank you for letting me share mine with you.


When September 11th, 2001 dawned, we of the racing world had just finished watching Ricky Rudd capture the short track at Richmond, and were looking forward, in varying degrees, to the next race at Louden, New Hampshire, the site, just the year before, of the deaths of Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin.

It was a particularly striking week for me, as I had a team in Yahoo Fantasy Racing, which had just made #1 in the nation. That team, of course, was called "The Lady in Black", a name that regular reader are quite familiar with.

A myriad of Winston Cup fans and I were still licking our wounds and trying hard to recover from the death, seven months prior, of the icon of stock car racing, Dale Earnhardt. At that point, I still believed that nothing in the world could make me feel lower. I was wrong!

While enjoying morning coffee and listening idly to the radio in the background, our attention was caught by a report of a "small" plane having crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. We turned on the TV, and flipped to CNN, which was already covering the story with cameras and reporters, only to be horrified within minutes by live video of a second plane tearing apart the South tower. It was apparent in that instant that this was no accident!

The total holocaust that followed in New York need not be documented here. We have all seen it time and time again and many of us still live with it. As the morning unfolded, there would be another plane, piloted by highjackers that would crash headlong into the Pentagon, the very bastion of U.S. military operations. On a hillside in Pennsylvania, brave men and women on yet another highjacked plane would rise up against their captors and give their lives to save the White House or the Capitol Building from a similar fate.

It was mind-boggling! It was unbelievable! Yet as we watched it happen, we had to believe. This was our country, our beloved America, and we were under attack by unknown forces. Even as I try to recall the feelings of that morning, I shy from them, not ever wanting to go there again. I remember that later in the morning, I came on line to find three long time friends waiting for me to join them in a reassuring session of hand holding and exchanged "It'll be OK's." It was a comfort I'm still grateful for today.

The following day, or maybe later the same day, I put up a post in Yahoo Fantasy Racing that I wish I could share with you today, but I can't. Never having been a proud author, I've never saved any of my writings, but the gist of it was that I was one of very few there who could remember World War II and the invasion on Pearl Harbor. I told of how the youth of our country back then rallied 'round the flag and the call to arms, volunteering in untold numbers to fight and defend us from the aggressor. Then I went on to proffer my faith in the youth of today to do the same thing, despite the differences between young and old that make us seem so far apart. I was not disappointed when a new and unproven President took our youngsters into battle to abolish the Taliban and Al Qaeda forces in Afghanistan. They went, they fought, and mercifully, most of them came home.

Today, our military oversees the rebuilding of Iraq, after having deposed the evil dictator, Saddam Hussein, who was seen as a real and aggressive threat to the free world and a friend and compatriot of the destructive Al Qaeda forces that invaded our soil. Our loss of life in that faraway land now stands at just over one thousand young Americans, all of which had friends and families of their own. And so the numbers grow; the numbers of lives destroyed by that one senseless act of hate.

Now we find ourselves at the third anniversary of that newest date that will live in infamy. Three years ago, our entire country came together as one, rallying 'round the flag and shouting the battle cry of freedom. (Look it up! It's a very old song, perhaps remembered only by very old ladies.) Everywhere we looked there were American flags and signs that proclaimed loudly and clearly, "God Bless America!" In the space of three short years, it seems some are back to asserting that it is OK to burn that flag, but not OK to include the words "Under God" in our pledge of allegiance.

We lost almost 3000 lives to fanatics on this day in 2001, simply because they "hated" Americans. Now we live our lives a bit differently or maybe a lot differently, depending on who or where we are. The lifestyle is not much different for an old Lady living in a small town in Georgia, but it has changed immensely for the families, friends and loved ones of those who are forever gone from us.

Once the magnitude of the attacks became apparent, NASCAR showed its usual decisiveness and swift handling of the situation by dragging its feet throughout the week. The New Hampshire race was not cancelled until after the National Football League announced the cancellation of their entire slate of games in honor of the proclaimed day of national mourning on the following Sunday. Smart thinking, since logic would tell one that a vast number of fans and all of the race teams would have to pass through the New York City area to get to New England, and that wasn't about to happen.

The following weekend saw the teams gather at Dover, Delaware, with many of the cars carrying special paint schemes of red, white and blue, and all sporting flag decals. (My personal favorite had to be the #36 M&Ms Pontiac of Ken Schraeder, which bore absolutely no advertisement, but was painted to resemble a waving American flag.) Every fan in the stands, some 140,000, held a small version of Old Glory, all of which waved high and often throughout the pre-race ceremonies. Those included Lee Greenwood, singing his now famous "God Bless the USA", followed by a Patriotic medley sung by Tanya Tucker, and the crowd lustily chanting USA! USA! USA! When Miss Tucker intoned the Star Spangled Banner, a hush fell on the stands until the very last note had been sung, then the chant rocked the stadium once more.

The race that day gave fans a reason to cheer, as the son and namesake of the fallen Champion, Dale Earnhardt, brought his #8 Budweiser colors (Complete with a large American flag on the rear deck lid) home in first place. Young Earnhardt was handed a huge American flag, which he waved from the driver's window as he circled the track, delighting the cheering crowd who still waved their own flags in accompaniment. It would take a long time to rebuild America, and some of it will never be the same, but NASCAR racing was back, with all the pomp and circumstance and patriotism one would expect of an All American sport.

As we come together this weekend to enjoy the Saturday night race at Richmond, there will undoubtedly be a show of patriotism and much flag waving, since the race falls directly on the anniversary of 9/11/2001. Yes, Richmond is the final race in this year’s “Race for the Chase” and some folks are even excited about that, but before all of the beatin’ and bangin’ that is sure to be a part of the race, there is sure to be a heartrending prerace ceremony.

When the invocation is given tonight, it is my hope that each one of us will take a minute to ponder the horror that occurred on this day, three short years ago. Bow your head for that minute and say a prayer, not only for the safety of the drivers, but for our brave men and women who stand in harm’s way tonight so that we might continue to enjoy the luxury of watching our chosen sport in a safe and free America. Remember, if you will, the survivors of those who died on September 11, 2001 and those who have since given their lives in an effort to insure that it never happens again.

Setting the field for the “Chase” might be important to us as race fans, but in the “Big Picture”, it is but a grain of sand on the beach when one reflects on the totality of loss America suffered on this day.

God Bless America ~ now let’s go racin’!



~Patty Kay

[glock rocks]

wow. just wow.

[NormsRevenge]

Breaking News for now. ;-)