RUMSFELD VISITS:@ Joe Nemechek's team, sponsored by the U.S. Army, hosted Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld for Saturday night's race, and Rumsfeld received warm welcomes everywhere he went before the event.
"My first stock car race was at Soldier Field in Chicago in 1948," Rumsfeld said after receiving a standing ovation at the drivers' meeting. "I don't know if there's one of you alive that was there."
Rumsfeld posed for dozens of pictures on pit road before the race, and said the nation is safer than it was three years ago on Sept. 11.
But, he said, "We're not safe in the sense that terrorists can always attack at any time at any place using any technique and it's not possible to defend at every place at every moment of the day or night against every conceivable threat. But it is possible to go after the terrorists, and that's what we've been doing," he said. "The pressure is one them."
Nemechek, who had a huge throng of media and military personnel near his car when he arrived before the race, said it was a big day for him.
"He's the one that's responsible for the safety of not only the United States, but also the world," Nemechek said. "It's an honor for me to meet him. It's just as cool as meeting the president."
Rummy is OUR Military's Crew Chief twice. Dick Cheney was a former Crew Chief for our military. Those Kerry folks want to ridicule Cheney for not serving in the military. By law, the Secretary of Defense MUST be a civilian. Do they understand that?