At about 8:30am/et this morning, members of the Air Force stationed at Dover Air Force Base presented three sets of green and checkered flags to officials at Dover International Speedway. “These flags have flown combat missions over Iraq,” said base spokeswoman Lt. Allison N. Tedesco. “Everyone here is very excited.” Lt. Tedesco said the track gave the Air Force the flags about two months ago. Since then, the flags have traveled on military aircraft moving faster than any NASCAR race car. “The flags went on combat missions in A-10s,” Lt. Tedesco said. The agile A-10 Thunderbolt typically travels more than 400 mph. Lt. Tedesco said every Air Force crew transporting the flags signed them. Speedway spokesman John Dunlap said the flags would probably not be used to start or end any race. “As far as I know, the flags will be gifts for special guests,” he said. He didn’t know which guests would get the flags. Lt. Tedesco said the flags were important for several reasons. “A lot of air crews wrote personal messages to some of the drivers,” she said. “We are just very excited NASCAR is going to use them. “They are still covered with dust from Iraq.”( Dover Newszap )(5-30-2003)
