Posted on 06/20/2007 12:33:33 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Infineon Raceway is one of the premier road racing venues in the country, and one of the few on the NASCAR Winston Cup Series circuit. The facility first opened in 1968 and serves as the gateway to the beautiful and scenic Sonoma Valley, which serves as one of the top wine-producing regions in the world.
God Bless our Armed Forces and their families and those who have paid for our freedoms with their sacrifice.
God Bless America
Sec: 2E
Row 21
Seat 58&59
I’ll be the fat one!LOL!
No kidding.
Someone, within that shadowy entity, known as the "network" needs a few lumps on the head!
Had to go to Jayski.
And DJ qualified 17th!!!! I would have bet good money that he would not have made this race. Never has been good at that L - R - L - R thing!
I was rootin' for Robby to keep the pole....MacMary - ? wow.
Front tires getting air time....can't wait!
Not good enough. Make it easier for us to see you.
Multi colored wig, John 3:16 sign, you know.....make yourself stand out!
lol
Have a great time! Take some pics and post them!
I forgot to say “I’ll be the one with a beer in my hand!”
It’s supposed to be a fairly cool weekend. We will miss you though!:)
I have been to two Cup races and two Top Fuel races there in my better day...
Ya, that will narrow it down! :)
The view is better on the tube! But the smell of the exhaust and the sound of those 800 hp engines more than make up for it!
OH< I will be my Jeff Gordon T shirt...Crist, I’ll be the only one cheering his win after starting in the back of the field!
Johnny B leading the Trucks. 67 to go...
Waaaaaay back in the field! At the almost end of the "back of the field" !!
That should be fun to watch. JG can drive a road course. Period.
When he passes WPM, I'll be thinking of ya!
Have a hoot! Wish I was there.
You are missing one key ingredient, my friend.....
The feel of those 43 800+hp machines when they come by at speed on the first lap.
If you are close enough, your body vibrates. The senses are not just overwhelmed, they are pounded into submission.
You can smell the fuel and you can definitely hear the sound.....but when you feel your chest vibrate....well, it's just.... a friggin' moment that you will never forget!
The first time I experienced that was a life event.... all I could think was, O..M..G..!! And I was screaming.
Other than that, just another ho-hum sporting event. :)
I might even go to next year's race.
Oh, do go see a World of Outlaw race, if you haven't already. Same horse power, half the weight. Major "wow" factor.
My buddy and I went to the Fontana race about five years ago. Front row at the start line. Second lap at speed. My buddy just looked over at me and said, “I had no idea!”
I’ll look for you. I’ll be 2E row 15 seats 1-4
Who is with me?
Cup champ says birth of daughter best day of his life
By David Caraviello, NASCAR.COM
June 22, 2007
09:04 PM EDT
SONOMA, Calif. — Jeff Gordon didn’t want to leave.
NASCAR’s newest father sat in a New York hospital room, cradling his newborn daughter in his arms. It wasn’t easy to put her down and leave for Infineon Raceway, site of this weekend’s Nextel Cup event.
“I was holding her and she was sleeping in my arms right before I left the hospital,” he said Friday. “I did not want to leave. That’s why I’m excited about being here, because I want to get out there and get this race over as fast as I can. I want to get it done faster than anyone else and get back to my little girl and Ingrid.”
Gordon and his wife, Belgian model Ingrid Vandebosch, celebrated the birth of daughter Ella Sofia on Wednesday. The baby was breach — turned backward in the mother’s womb — so Vandebosch underwent a Caesarean section. That morning on the way to the hospital, her water broke.
“It is absolutely incredible,” Gordon said. “I expected it to change my life, but I never had any clue of how it was going to, but it has. It’s just things are different now, in a great way, though. It was just probably the best day of my life.”
“Every time I open my phone, it puts a smile on my face,” he said. “With everything that’s happening here today, as devastating as it is for me, there’s nothing that’s going to bring me down today. More important things in life are at the top of my list.”
Like diapers, which Gordon is already willingly changing on a daughter that shows signs of having her daddy’s dark hair. One of the first things he did after waking up Friday morning was call Ingrid and Ella. Hendrick Motorsports teammate Casey Mears could sense Gordon’s giddiness on the helicopter ride to the racetrack.
http://www.nascar.com/2007/news/headlines/cup/06/22/jgordon.new.dad/index.html
New team, new sponsors, new hope for Earnhardt Jr.
By Terry Blount
ESPN.com
SONOMA, Calif. — Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a Barry Manilow fan.
“Sure, I have a few of his tunes on my iPod,” Earnhardt said. “I really like ‘Weekend in New England.’ I mean, the guy’s a legend. Doesn’t everybody listen to a few of Barry’s songs every now and then.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is smiling a lot more these days.
Meet the new Dale Jr., folks, the one who smiles 95 percent of the time and isn’t afraid to redesign his image.
Earnhardt enjoyed a gorgeous Napa Valley evening at the Nickel & Nickel Winery on Thursday night, announcing his new personal sponsorship deal with Sony.
“I’m a real electronics nut, so this is perfect for me,” Earnhardt said. “I love to tinker with this stuff. I think I’ve taken apart my stereo system 16 times, and 14 of those times I put it back together successfully.”
Earnhardt had fun laughing at himself. This is a happy man. It’s good to be Dale Jr. these days.
That wasn’t always the case. Trying to live up to his father’s legacy at the company Dale Sr. founded was a burden at times for Junior.
Dale Jr. can’t be his father as a driver. No one can. But Junior also can’t be his father as a person. He never tried to fit in that mold.
“My dad knew how to promote himself,” Earnhardt said. “He was ‘The Intimidator.’ That’s how people saw him and that’s what he played up.
“But I’ve always tried to be an easy-going guy. That’s who I am and I think that’s my image.”
For the first time in his career, Earnhardt is free to be whoever he wants to be. And he’s a new man since his decision to leave DEI and join Hendrick Motorsports.
“There’s just a lot of pressure off me now,” Earnhardt said. “A lot of pressure is gone.”
Since his father’s death six years ago, Earnhardt often had an air of melancholia about him. He was a wealthy young man doing what he loved, but an overall level of satisfaction was missing.
All that has changed. The man is so happy these days he hardly can contain himself. Every day is Christmas morning.
Everyone keeps talking about my brand. I really don’t know what that means. It’s still evolving, I guess.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Earnhardt is a lame duck at DEI, a situation that rarely ends well for any driver. But Earnhardt is completely at peace with himself, so his final half-season at DEI could produce some of the best results of his career.
And it doesn’t hurt that DEI is on a roll. It’s three drivers — Earnhardt, Martin Truex Jr. and Paul Menard — have one victory, four top-5s, six top-10s and nine top-12s in their last 12 starts over five races.
It’s the best of times for Earnhardt and it shows. He now feels free to be himself, whoever that is. And he isn’t always sure who that is.
“Everyone keeps talking about my brand,” he said. “I really don’t know what that means. It’s still evolving, I guess.”
People want to know if it’s evolving beyond Budweiser. Will Junior no longer act as the unofficial symbol of frat parties nationwide?
“I know where you’re going there,” Earnhardt said. “But I can’t help you.”
Earnhardt, 32, won’t say if his days as the Bud boy are ending. Maybe he really doesn’t know yet. But his move to Hendrick could bring about a new direction for Earnhardt as we know him.
“I think we’ll see a lot of new partnerships over the next six months,” Earnhardt said. “That’s one of the good things about making this move. At DEI, I wasn’t free to do some of the things I’m doing now.”
Earnhardt is expected to announce soon a new deal with Adidas for his own clothing line. And other sponsors are lining up to have Earnhardt on their team.
The man is a license to print money. And the biggest deal is still to come. The primary sponsorship for Earnhardt’s Chevrolet next season could cost as much as $25 million.
It’s at least $5 million more than most championship-caliber teams get now, but this is a unique situation. Other than Tiger Woods, Earnhardt may be the most marketable athlete in the country.
And Rick Hendrick has plenty of selling points to offer. If you buy Dale Jr., you also get Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson as part of the package.
So pony up, boys. The marketing coup of the decade is here for the taking. Big sponsors, small sponsors, there’s room for everyone on the Earnhardt promotional train.
Hey, maybe Manilow can promote his next tour to a whole new demographic. A Manilow decal on the rear deck lid of Earnhardt’s car at Talladega.
Uh, maybe not. The Earnhardt brand is changing, but let’s not get carried away.
SONOMA, Calif. - Dale Earnhardt Jr. said he believes there has been progress made in getting his crew chief (and cousin) Tony Eury Jr. to move with him from Dale Earnhardt Inc. to Hendrick Motorsports.
Link: http://www.scenedaily.com/stories/2007/06/18/scene_daily1000.html
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