Waltrip Hood to the Pentagon UPDATE: NASCAR Winston Cup and Busch Series driver Michael Waltrip will donate the hood of the car baring the Phoenix Project logo that he drove at the Richmond International Raceway on Sept. 6, 2002 to the Pentagon. The special presentation will be made at the Pentagon’s Phoenix site Wednesday, Dec. 4, at 10:00am/et. Phoenix Project Manager Will Colston will accept the hood on behalf of the Pentagon. The Daytona 500 winner is making the donation in remembrance and recognition of the sacrifices of those who lost their lives in the terroist attacks on September 11, 2001 and the resilience shown by those who rebuilt the Pentagon.(DefenseLink)(12-3-2002) UPDATE: NASCAR driver Michael Waltrip said he may have dropped a couple of slots at the Sept. 6 race at Richmond International Raceway to keep it in good condition, but yesterday he presented the Pentagon with the uncrumpled hood of the race car he drove that day. Blazoned across the purple hood is the Pentagon Phoenix Project’s emblem, an image of the five-sided building with smoke pouring out of a gash and a red phoenix, the mythological symbol of rebirth after fire, rising over it. Underneath it in big white letters is “Let’s Roll.” Waltrip drove the car with the emblem that day not only in honor of the 183 people who died when a terrorist-controlled jetliner crashed into the Pentagon but also to salute the workers who labored to have the building reconstructed. He finished eighth in that race. “It’s a short track, and a lot of times you run into each other,” he said as he toured the Pentagon with his wife, Buffy, and 5-year-old daughter, Macy. “So I was more concerned about having a hood left when all was said and done.” Now the Pentagon has to find a permanent place to display the hood somewhere among its 17 miles of corridors.(Richmond Times Dispatch)(12-5-2002)
