NASCAR ~ Coke Zero 400 - Daytona Saturday night July 4th 8pm ET on TNT

Various | 06-29-09 | Me, Jack, Jr, Rocky

[WestCoastGal]

http://twitpic.com/8xtjj Taylor Earnhardt will drive #3 at Goodwood in a demo run Sr drove 2000Winston500 @Dega via http://twib.es/EUS

[WestCoastGal]

Jr still remembers the real name< Firecracker 400

Earnhardt: “When you were a kid, and you went to the races, you didn’t get to go to all of them. Maybe one a month or so. When the summer came, you wanted to go to as many as you could and as many as Dad and Teresa would take you to, and those were even the select few. You got to go to Bristol and a couple of other places, obviously Lowe’s (Motor Speedway). The biggest trip of the year was the Firecracker 400 at Daytona. It was the biggest trip of the year when I was a kid ... Daytona, like a baseball fan going to Cooperstown. It was this grand thing. I looked at Daytona the way that fans looked at my father. Going there as a kid and seeing all the cool races and hanging out with all my friends. The (drivers’) wives and children were all in the scoring tower down in Turn 1 during the race, so we all hung out. It was a good experience. I never got to go to the Daytona 500, which was the biggest race, so going to the Firecracker 400 was the second-biggest thing you could do in the NASCAR season. The first Daytona 500 I went to was the first I competed in, so I never saw one until I raced at Daytona.” <<<<<<<<<<I didn’t know that!

[WestCoastGal]

Q: How is that possible you never went to a Daytona 500?

Earnhardt: “I don’t know. I was always in school. And when I ran in the Busch series, I flipped in ‘98 and had that concussion, so I went on home, and Daddy ended up (expletive) winning, so that was stupid. In ‘99 something happened, we wrecked or something, and I guess I got pissed off and went home. I never saw a Daytona 500 until the one I ran in in 2000. But going to the July race, I’ve done that all my life as a kid. It’s a special event. It marks the midpoint of the season. The economy is rough for everybody, but probably more so for Daytona. It seems like right now the only thing they have going is the racetrack. But I still like it. It’s not as polished as Miami or a couple of other areas in Florida, but I think the town is still relevant to the sport, too. I feel as comfortable there as I do in my own house. I really like the place.”

[SouthTexas]

Good to see I’m not the only one. :)

[WestCoastGal]

I’m trying to check out as many teams that could be potential landing points for Jeremy Mayfield should he not get the Mayfield Motorsports No. 41 down here by the 3 p.m. deadline.

Tommy Baldwin is a no.

“He’s not in the 64?” Baldwin asked, when I and another reporter approached him.

The No. 64 Larry Gunselman’s car and Gunselman said earlier this morning that his sponsors wouldn’t go for having Mayfield in the car. Even if they would, Gunselman told me, he would probably stick with Mike Wallace so as not to “upset the apple carts.”

Baldwin seemed sympathetic to Mayfield.

“We all like Jeremy,” Baldwin said. “There’s no doubt about that.”

He said it would be difficult for Mayfield to figure something out so quickly.

“The unfortunate thing is the last couple months here, he’s gone through his struggles and it’s not gonna help him in the business world of racing,” Baldwin said. “That’s for sure. And that’s the unfortunate thing. Whether he’s right, wrong or different right now, he’s marked. And that’s going to hurt him probably for the rest of his career. Unfortunately.”

[SouthTexas]

Sadly, at this stage of the game, I think he’s toast.

Sponsors are too hard to come by at the moment.

[LasVegasMac]

2007 Pepsi 400 on Speed now..........

[SouthTexas]

Saw part of it at lunch. Knew it was old, but not how old. Kyle Busch was running with teammate Jimmy Johnson.

[BlueNgold]

OMG .. Sheheen is an idiot with a horrid voice.
I turned on the radio coverage because I couldn’t stand the guy.

[Wneighbor]

Thanks for the ping!!!

I’m out of pocket again babysitting grandkids. Fun thing is I will be able to watch this race with my daughter and son-in-law who are also die-hard NASCAR fans. Only get to do this a couple of races a year so I love it when I get to watch with them!

[Pete-R-Bilt]

Thanks for the ping Gal, won't be here, going to Powell and boat with the kids and Grandkids.

Here's a tidbit for y'all have a fun and SAFE weekend...

Happy Birthday King Richard!

Bill Fleischman: Pettys mark historic Daytona

By Bill Fleischman
Philadelphia Daily News

Daily News Sports Writer

IT'S A BIG WEEK for the Pettys at Daytona (you're saying, another big week for the Pettys? Yo, it's been a while).

The speedway is celebrating the 25th anniversary of Richard Petty's 200th and final Cup series victory. President Reagan gave the "Gentlemen, start your engines" command from Air Force One, then attended the race. Reagan, a former sportscaster, even called a few laps for the telecast.

Richard's son, Kyle, will be grand marshal for Saturday's Coke Zero 400. Also, today is Richard Petty's 72nd birthday.

The occasion also serves to clear up speculation about a rift between father and son. Earlier this year, it was reported that Richard and Kyle had not spoken for about 2 months. The impression was that Kyle, a longtime racer, was miffed over being excluded from any role in the family racing business after Petty Enterprises merged with Gillett Evernham Motorsports.

[tubebender]

Hi Pete. Lots of hot weather in parts of Calif this week?

Hornish and Biffle Crash in Practice today I need to go shopping for a new driver...

[WestCoastGal]

Sam’s car looked great in practice until Biffle decided to pull in front and wasn’t clear.

[NormsRevenge]

Present!

Nascar goin’ to the dogs?

Race dogs common site during NASCAR weekends
http://www.nascar.com/2009/news/opinion/07/03/splash.go.rswan.race.dogs/index.html

Thanks for the thread!

Here’s to hugh gaps of sunshine for the race. :-)

[NormsRevenge]

FRiday afternoon

Weather channel

Detailed Local Forecast

* Today: Scattered showers and thunderstorms. High 91F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
* Tonight: Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms mainly during the evening. Low near 75F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
* Tomorrow: Variable clouds with scattered showers in the morning, then thunderstorms in the afternoon. High 89F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
* Tomorrow night: Isolated thunderstorms during the evening, becoming fair overnight. Low 76F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
* Sunday: Partly cloudy with a stray thunderstorm. Highs in the upper 80s and lows in the mid 70s.

[SouthTexas]

I missed this earlier, thanks.

The reason many of the cold medications are behind the counter now is because you can synthesize meth from them. Does Nascar really think you will not test positive if you consume the same?

[vox_freedom]

Good question that should be answered by NASCAR and various drug test experts. Given the pervasive drug testing that goes on in almost all sports these days you would think that it should be fairly easy to have that answer certified sooner rather than later...

[vox_freedom]

Hey, I don't want to hear about thunderstorm forecasts.

I want beer & popcorn, & wide screen HD!!!

[SouthTexas]

You’d think, but it has never been answered to my satisfaction.

[vox_freedom]

You’d think, but it has never been answered to my satisfaction.

Nor mine, obviously.
That is, in part, why I speculated that there may have been some background information brought forward in NASCAR's investigation to corroborate the test finding...
Without additional substantive evidence, it is all the more puzzling how NASCAR could enforce this punitive action without incurring a large liability, not to mention the injustice of the smear that is now upon Mayfield.