***NASCAR Pepsi 400 at Daytona on NBC at 4pm PT / 7pm ET***

NASCAR.com ^ | 7/2/03 | Dave rodman - Turner Sports Interactive

[NormsRevenge]

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- NASCAR race fans attending this weekend's NASCAR and Grand-American Road Racing Series events at Daytona International Speedway -- or even those watching on television -- had better keep their eyes open.

There's no telling whom they might see, or who might decide to show up at the "World Center of Racing."

It seems that Winston Cup racing has become a magnet for celebrities of all manner, and Daytona is one of its brightest beacons. Thus, speedway president Robin Braig never knows who's going to show up at his office, or drop a quick call.

"You know, it's kind of neat when you're running an event of this kind, of this magnitude," Braig said. "You'll get a lot of phone calls from all kinds of people.

"They not only want to be seen, and to promote their record label, or album or their latest movie, but they want to come to the race, as well, and we try to accommodate them all.

"I think that's part of the (fans') experience, when you come to a major sporting event like the Pepsi 400 or the Daytona 500. You want to see the superstars and it's kind of nice to see them (celebrities) wanting to come around."

During Speedweeks 2003 at the speedway in February, a diverse lineup that included world heavyweight champion boxer Evander Holyfield, former NBA player Artis Gilmore, woman's tennis standout Serena Williams, actor John Travolta, skateboarder Tony Hawk, comedian Wayne Brady and pop diva Mariah Carey.

	Warren Sapp

The hits will keep on coming at the Pepsi 400, when NFL Super Bowl champion defensive lineman and Florida native Warren Sapp; supermodel Angie Everhart, who has appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, Glamour and Time magazines; and RCA recording artist, Sara Evans are part of the festivities.

Sapp and Everhart will add "Grand Marshal" to their list of distinguished accomplishments when they give the command to fire engines to the 43-car field of Winston Cup drivers and lead the field to the green flag, respectively, on Saturday at the Pepsi 400.

Evans, whose single "Born to Fly" propelled her to the top of the Country Music Charts and garnered rave reviews in Rolling Stone and the Los Angeles Times, will perform a pre-race concert on the speedway's frontstretch and will also sing the National Anthem prior to the Pepsi 400 before a national television audience and tens of thousands of race fans.

	Angie Everhart

"Having Warren, Angie and Sara as part of our exciting weekend at the World Center of Racing proves once again Daytona and Pepsi are committed to putting on a spectacular show," Daytona International Speedway president Robin Braig said. "We are thrilled to have them on site to help us celebrate our 45th annual event."

Sapp will give the command, "Gentlemen, start your engines" at the event that will be nationally televised in prime time by NBC Sports, while Everhart will get the race underway by leading the field from the Pontiac Grand Marshal car.

The Central Florida native, one of the most feared and intimidating figures in the NFL, has been the point man for arguably the league's most dominant defense over the past six seasons.

	Sara Evans

He has been selected to six consecutive Pro Bowls, joining Lee Roy Selmon as the only Buccaneers linemen to earn repeat nominations to the game.

Everhart, whose lengthy and impressive resume includes supermodel as well as television and film roles, began her modeling career at the age of 16. In addition to her recurring role on the NBC action-drama "UC: Undercover," the versatile Everhart, who is fluent in French, was cast in the NBC TV miniseries "First To Die," which aired in February 2003.

Evans' current single "Backseat Of A Greyhound Bus," is currently at No. 18 on R&R and Billboard's Country Singles Chart and her new project, "Restless," is slated to hit stores Aug. 19.

On Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET, Evans will perform Born To Fly and participate in a question and answer session with guests inside the Daytona Club, a special fan hospitality area located behind the Winston Tower on the track's frontstretch.

	Evander Holyfield Credit: AP

Evans will also perform a pre-race concert on the speedway's trioval at approximately 5:40 p.m. To get an up-close view of the concert fans can purchase Pre-Race Infield Passes for $50.

For more information on joining the Daytona Club, contact the Sales and Marketing Partnerships at (386) 947-6475.

As of midweek, Braig wasn't sure what calls he was going to take, or who was going to decide to come to the speedway for the Independence Day holiday event.

"You can be walking around and not know who you're going to run into," Braig said. "Last Speedweeks, Holyfield just showed up -- didn't call ahead, ask for tickets or anything.

"Darn it, we would have gotten him tickets, but you just never know (who'll show up)."

[SevenofNine]

You don't like football like NFL or College

OHHH KEITH you know what missing

Rack College Football

So any Freepers NASCAR fans are football fans I tell you for the record

I am Oakland Raiders fan

I am USC Trojan fan

OKAY lay diss on me LOL!

[ETERNAL WARMING]

I sincerely hope that there will be protesters out in force to condemn the NASCAR capitulation to Jesse Jackson's extortion. I'll not support NASCAR knowing that some of that money will go to this racist.

[CougarGA7]

Thanks for the ping. Hey, do you know if they will be doing qualifying tonight? Probably I would think.

Everyone have a great 4th. Stay safe. Go Dale Jr.

[countrydummy]

I can't find out when qualifying is, do you know and what channel it will be on?

[xp38]

a diverse lineup that included world heavyweight champion boxer Evander Holyfield

Lennox Lewis will be surprised to read this. I know I'm nitpicking but "former" should have been added.

[NormsRevenge]

It looks like the Qualifying for the Winston Cup folks is tonight on TNT .. 505 pm PT 805 pm ET.

[CougarGA7]

Thanks Norm. Glad you put the station down. I would have been looking for it on the SPEED Channel. Happy 4th.

[Lost Highway]

Angie Everhart mmmmmmmmmm...

[countrydummy]

Thanks a million!

[NormsRevenge]

Pos.	Car	Driver	Make	Sponsor	Speed	Time	Behind
1	#30	Steve Park	Chevrolet	America Online	184.752	48.714	Leader
2	#29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	GM Goodwrench Service	184.642	48.743	-0.029
3	#24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	DuPont	184.498	48.781	-0.067
4	#40	Sterling Marlin	Dodge	Coors Light	184.411	48.804	-0.090
5	#8	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	Budweiser	184.381	48.812	-0.098
6	#15	Michael Waltrip	Chevrolet	NAPA Auto Parts	184.286	48.837	-0.123
7	#49	Ken Schrader	Dodge	1-800-CALLATT	184.241	48.849	-0.135
8	#42	Jamie McMurray*	Dodge	Havoline/Terminator 3	184.173	48.867	-0.153
9	#38	Elliott Sadler	Ford	M&M's	184.113	48.883	-0.169
10	#19	Jeremy Mayfield	Dodge	Dodge Dealers	183.951	48.926	-0.212
11	#48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	Lowe's	183.925	48.933	-0.219
12	#41	Casey Mears*	Dodge	Target	183.643	49.008	-0.294
13	#20	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	Home Depot	183.617	49.015	-0.301
14	#9	Bill Elliott	Dodge	Dodge Dealers	183.561	49.030	-0.316
15	#18	Bobby Labonte	Chevrolet	Interstate Batteries	183.389	49.076	-0.362
16	#88	Dale Jarrett	Ford	UPS	183.329	49.092	-0.378
17	#32	Ricky Craven	Pontiac	Tide	183.258	49.111	-0.397
18	#31	Robby Gordon	Chevrolet	Cingular Wireless	183.173	49.134	-0.420
19	#09	Buckshot Jones	Dodge	Miccosukee Gaming & Resorts	183.068	49.162	-0.448
20	#25	Joe Nemechek	Chevrolet	UAW/Delphi	183.064	49.163	-0.449
21	#60	David Green	Chevrolet	Haas Automation	183.053	49.166	-0.452
22	#10	Johnny Benson	Pontiac	Valvoline	183.046	49.168	-0.454
23	#01	Mike Wallace	Pontiac	U.S. Army	182.986	49.184	-0.470
24	#12	Ryan Newman	Dodge	ALLTEL	182.867	49.216	-0.502
25	#5	Terry Labonte	Chevrolet	Kellogg's/got milk?	182.856	49.219	-0.505
26	#14	Larry Foyt*	Dodge	Harrah's	182.838	49.224	-0.510
27	#21	Ricky Rudd	Ford	U.S. Air Force	182.789	49.237	-0.523
28	#22	Ward Burton	Dodge	Caterpillar	182.689	49.264	-0.550
29	#23	Kenny Wallace	Dodge	Stacker 2	182.678	49.267	-0.553
30	#16	Greg Biffle*	Ford	Grainger	182.541	49.304	-0.590
31	#97	Kurt Busch	Ford	Irwin/Lenox/Rubbermaid	182.511	49.312	-0.598
32	#180	Mike Bliss	Chevrolet	Advair	182.508	49.313	-0.599
33	#6	Mark Martin	Ford	Viagra	182.463	49.325	-0.611
34	#1	Jeff Green	Chevrolet	Pennzoil Synthetic	182.441	49.331	-0.617
35	#0	Jack Sprague*	Pontiac	NetZero HiSpeed	182.437	49.332	-0.618
36	#99	Jeff Burton	Ford	CITGO	182.035	49.441	-0.727
Provisional
37	#17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	Smirnoff Ice/DeWalt	181.543	49.575	-0.861
38	#2	Rusty Wallace	Dodge	Miller Lite	181.624	49.553	-0.839
39	#77	Dave Blaney	Ford	Jasper Engines & Transmissions	180.141	49.961	-1.247
40	#7	Jimmy Spencer	Dodge	Sirius Satellite Radio	181.873	49.485	-0.771
41	#154	Todd Bodine	Ford	National Guard	181.225	49.662	-0.948
42	#45	Kyle Petty	Dodge	Georgia Pacific	181.811	49.502	-0.788
43	#4	Stacy Compton	Pontiac	Kodak/Pirates of the Caribbean	181.609	49.557	-0.843
Did not Qualify
44	#183	Kerry Earnhardt	Chevrolet	Super Hot Tamales	181.745	49.520	-0.806
45	#74	Tony Raines*	Chevrolet	Staff America	181.726	49.525	-0.811
46	#43	Shane Hmiel	Dodge	Berry Burst Cheerios	180.883	49.756	-1.042
47	#44	Christian Fittipaldi	Dodge	Bugles	180.727	49.799	-1.085

* Denotes Rookie

[tubebender]

It was do or die for Schrader and he came through for Carrot Top...

[steveegg]

Random comments on qualifying (now that I realized that I can't run dual-channel DDR with the memory I picked up for cheap):

• Congrats to Steve Park. At least he's far enough away from Buckshot Jones so that hopefully the Big One won't take out 30 cars (then again, if it happens early enough, it will (more on that below)
• Looks like the rest of the Chevy camp's caught DEI, along with some of the Dodge teams. The surprise, though, is that Ken Schrader's going to get a tow from Jr.
• While I'm on DEI, that 1 car definitely gets the leftovers, and there's nothing left after Jr and Mikey take all the speed.
• Looks like Robert Yates Racing's back, as they are at the head of the Ford pack. The rest of the Ford field has a LOT of work to do.
• My over/under on the lap that The Big One will happen - Lap 3. Number of cars involved - 30 (you've got Park and Harvick side-by-side in the front, and Buckshot and Crash Gordon essentially next to each other in the middle of the field; you do the math (VBG))

Enjoy the fireworks today, and see you guys tomorrow night.

[GRRRRR]

'Nuff Said... GRRRRR is going to BRISTOL for August race, eat yer heart out!!

[Vigilantcitizen]

"Congrats to Steve Park. At least he's far enough away from Buckshot Jones so that hopefully the Big One won't take out 30 cars (then again, if it happens early enough, it will (more on that below)"

Bwahaha...good one. ; )

[Vigilantcitizen]

"The Earnhardt Tribut Concert will be aired on FOX on Thursday July 10th at 8pm for anyone interested. It looked like everyone had a great time even though it rained most of the afternoon and evening."

Damn I miss the old man.

[Vigilantcitizen]

"Go Dale Jr."

Big #8 bump.

[GraniteStateConservative]

We should support Sara. She's one of us.

[countrydummy]

remind me, who are those two folks with Bush?

[Pete-R-Bilt]

DIRT Modified drivers

I have a grandson that must be turning into a driver, 'cause he's dirt modified all the time! lol

[#3Fan]

As do I.

Dale Jr starts from the pole today in Busch. Going to try to sweep the first three Busch restrictor races.