USS George Washington Visit: Other than sore knees and an occasion bumped head, no injuries were reported during a visit by seven racers to the aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN-73) off the coast of Virginia. The group featured 1998 Indy 500 winner Eddie Cheever, 2001 IRL champion Sam Hornish, record-setting motorcycle drag racer Larry “Spiderman” McBride, CTS drivers Rick Crawford and Jimmy Hensley, and BGN driver Andy Houston and his crew chief, Tony Liberati. The tour was arranged by Chuck Hall, media and marketing director of Langley Speedway, a NASCAR-sanctioned weekly track in Hampton, VA. The group – plus three other non-racing guests – left the Norfolk (Va.) Naval Station at noon Wednesday on a C-2A Greyhound for the 30-minute flight over the Atlantic Ocean. They experienced the thrill of a tailhook landing, spent 25 hours on the nuclear-powered carrier, then had a C-2A “cat launch” from the deck on Thursday for the return to Norfolk. While aboard they watched several types of Navy jets and prop plans launched and recovered in daylight and darkness. They watched many of the cat launches from 60 feet of the catapults on the 4.5-acre deck and were privileged to watch late-night operations from the bridge with the Captain. They toured the ship bow to fantail, and from near the bottom to the top (thus the sore knees and bumped heads). Commanding Officer Capt. William J. McCarthy and Executive Officer Capt. K.M. Donegan and the entire crew and air wing were incredibly generous with their time and patient with the questions. The racers sat for two 90-minute autograph sessions, during which they handed out thousands of posters, phone cards, schedules, pictures and team brochures. The ship will continue flight qualifications for several weeks, then return to Norfolk. After another round of sea trials, the seven ships of the GW Battle Group is expected to deploy to the Middle East in late April or early May.(2-1-2002)
