March 24, 2006
- CARS to premiere at LMS in May: Disney.Pixar’s exciting new computer-animated feature “CARS” will stage its World Premiere on Friday, May 26th at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte, NC in one of the most unique and elaborate movie events of all-time, it was announced today by Dick Cook, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios. Paul Newman, Owen Wilson, Bonnie Hunt, Larry the Cable Guy, NASCAR legends Richard Petty and Darrell Waltrip, and others from the voice cast of the film will be joined by a host of stars from the racing world and 30,000 guests that are expected to attend the “CARS” World Premiere, taking place at the same location as that weekend’s famous Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race. The screening of the film represents the first multi-screen digital cinema premiere ever, with Texas Instruments and its DLP CinemaR technology serving as Disney’s event technology partner in providing the digital cinema projectors. A series of four giant custom-built outdoor movie screens (115-feet wide and 50-feet tall) will be constructed at Lowe’s Motor Speedway at Turn #2 of the track. Each screen will have three DLP Cinema 2K digital projectors dedicated to it. A state-of-the-art sound system is also being created and installed for the event. Tickets for the premiere will be made available for purchase by the general public starting today. Proceeds will benefit Speedway Children’s Charities, and Association of Hole in the Wall Gang Camps. For tickets, call 1-800-455-FANS, visit the Lowe’s Motor Speedway box office, or order online here.
To cap off the weekend, the #96 DLP HDTV car will be wrapped as the film’s lead character “Lightning McQueen” for the NEXTEL Cup series race in Charlotte the same weekend [see image on my #96 Team Schemes page].
Lightning McQueen (voice of OWEN WILSON), a hotshot rookie race car driven to succeed, discovers that life is about the journey, not the finish line, when he finds himself unexpectedly detoured in the sleepy Route 66 town of Radiator Springs. On route across the country to the big Piston Cup Championship in California to compete against two seasoned pros, McQueen gets to know the town’s offbeat characters -including Doc Hudson (a 1951 Hudson Hornet with a mysterious past, voiced by PAUL NEWMAN), Sally (a snazzy 2002 Porsche voiced by BONNIE HUNT), and Mater (a rusty but trusty tow truck voiced by LARRY THE CABLE GUY) – who help him realize that there are more important things than trophies, fame and sponsorship.
The all-star vocal cast also includes free-wheeling performances by Tony Shalhoub, Michael Keaton, Cheech Marin, George Carlin, Katherine Helmond, and John Ratzenberger. Delivering more fun and authenticity to the cast for “CARS” are vocal performances from some of the all-time greatest names from the racing world including the legendary Richard Petty, plus “drive-on” roles by Mario Andretti, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Darrell Waltrip (who holds the record for five-wins at the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600), and Michael Schumacher, the ace German Formula 1 racing legend, who is a seven-times world champion, and is widely considered to be the best Grand Prix racing driver of all-time.(LMS PR)(3-24-2006) - Fabrizio, Poole Named Finalists in Writing Competition: Veteran NASCAR beat writers Tony Fabrizio of the Tampa Tribune and David Poole of the Charlotte Observer know have been named among the 10 finalists in the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) National Writing Contest’s “Game Story” category, in the 100,000-250,000 circulation division. Both are in the final top 10 via outstanding stories on Tony Stewart’s 2005 victory in the Allstate 400 at The Brickyard. The final top five and honorable mention selections will be announced by the APSE in early April.(NASCAR PR)(3-24-2006)
- Rusty Honored: Rusty Wallace’s name is already written all over the Bristol Motor Speedway record books, and as of Thursday his name is now written on the side of the speedway grandstands. The tower, which tops the Kulwicki grandstand, was dedicated Thursday in honor of nine-time BMS Cup race winner Wallace, as well as a plaque on a pedestal in Legends Plaza in front of the Bruton Smith Building bearing an engraving of Wallace’s likeness and a short narrative on Wallace’s career. Joining Wallace for the ceremony was his family including wife Patty, son Steve, brother Kenny, and his parents Russ and Judy. Also in attendance were BMS President Jeff Byrd and Speedway Motorsports Inc. CEO Bruton Smith. Wallace’s plaque and monument dedicated Thursday in Legends Plaza joins those of other racing legends honored at BMS in the past, including the Allison family, Dale Earnhardt, Junior Johnson, Alan Kulwicki, David Pearson, Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough and Darrell Waltrip. Wallace’s nine wins at BMS are tied for second all time with Earnhardt and Yarborough. Waltrip has the most with 12.(Kingsport Times-News)(3-24-2006)
- Five Purple Heart Recipients to Attend Bristol Race: The #16 National Guard team will have the privilege of being accompanied this Sunday by five Purple Heart recipients from the Tennessee National Guard. SPC Wesley Bullington, SGT Tony Anderson, SPC Jamey Smith, SGT Christopher Cartwright and SPC Anthony Lambert have all received a Purple Heart for the sacrifices they made while in the line of duty. These soldiers all come from the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment. The 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment is the only enhanced Armored Cavalry Regiment within the National Guard, and one of only two Armored Cavalry Regiments in the United States Army. It is headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, with units throughout the East and Central Tennessee Area. The Purple Heart is a U.S. military decoration awarded in the name of the President of the United States to those who have been wounded or killed while serving in or with the U.S. military after April 5, 1917. The Purple Heart is the oldest military decoration in the world in present use and the first American award made available to the common soldier.(Roush Racing PR)(3-24-2006)
- Buy a Cookie and Help Out: After raising $2,000 selling cookies from her front yard for last year’s American Cancer Society Relay for Life, 8-year-old Nora Gilmer of Piney Flats is taking her cookie business to the NASCAR races at Bristol this weekend. Beginning today at noon, Nora and her friends from Piney Flats United Methodist Church and fellow third-graders at Avoca Elementary School, Bristol, will be manning two cookie booths just outside the track. Race fans can look for her “Cookies for Cancer” stands across from Lady Equipment Co. near Bristol Motor Speedway’s southern entrance and the other just down Volunteer Parkway at the school. Her cookies also will be available throughout the weekend at the Austin Springs Spa and Salon at Johnson City’s Carnegie Hotel.(Johnson City Press)(3-24-2006)
- #61 Gets Sponsor: The Enthusiast Network is partnering with the #61 Ford Fusion, driven by Kevin LePage, for the 2006 season of NASCAR Nextel Cup. The TEN Magazine logo and the www.FordTruckWorld.com logos will make their debut on the #61 Ford Fusion at the Food City 500 at Bristol. In addition to the sponsorship, TEN will conducting a host of giveaways including the opportunity to win special VIP garage passes to a future race. For all the news from TEN Magazines, please visit theenthusiastnetwork.com.(PR)(3-24-2006)
- Subway Colors at Bristol for Biffle: This weekend the #16 National Guard team and driver Greg Biffle will again run the 2006 Subway paint scheme. This paint scheme will run a total of 11 times this season.(Roush Racing), see image on my #16 Team Schemes Page.(3-24-2006)
- Bristol Goodyear Tire Notes: This is the second time in three races that NASCAR Nextel Cup teams will run this specific combination of left- and right-side tires . . . teams ran this tire set-up earlier this month at Las Vegas . . . both the Nextel Cup and Busch Series teams will run the same tire codes this weekend . . . while Las Vegas and Bristol are the only two tracks at which teams are scheduled to run this tire combination, Nextel Cup teams will also run this left-side code (D-4028) with a different right-side code (D-4030) at Pocono. Estimated Pit Window: Every 150-160 laps, based on fuel mileage. Full notes on the Bristol Race Info/Rundown Page.(3-24-2006)
- #37 Needs Sponsor or may close: Two Toccoa [GA] businessmen, John Carter and Roger Craven, did the near-impossible last year when they took their shoestring budget team to Daytona and finished ninth in the Daytona 500, earning more than $300,000. But this year, Carter and Craven are on the verge of dropping off the circuit. With Mike Skinner at the wheel of their #37 Dodge, the R and J Racing team has failed to qualify for an event this year, and the team has no primary sponsor to help foot the bills. “We’re still trying to get on our feet, and we’re too good a team to just quit,” Carter said. “It’s a shame that a Georgia-based team can’t get a Georgia-based company to help us just a little bit.”(Atlanta Journal-Constitution)(3-24-2006)
- Footballers start Race Team: Football hall of famer Gale Sayers and World Champion MVP Ray Lewis, along with entrepreneur Mark Bloomquist, have formed The Milestone Company. The operation will run both cars and trucks under its new name: S&L Racing. The team will be headquartered in North Carolina. S&L Racing’s mission is to develop a winning race team that provides opportunities for minorities and women in the sport. To achieve their objective, S&L Racing will start from scratch, working their way up to the Nextel Cup Series. The team plans to start racing this season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The Milestone Company will work with NASCAR, other racing teams and organizations, and corporations to assist in providing opportunities for those looking to make a career out of racing. For more information on S&L Racing, contact the team at 336-389-1700.(FoxSports/Newswire/S&L Racing)(3-24-2006)
- Cope to attempt Bristol; gets sponsorship: even thou not on any entry lists as of 1am/et on 3/24/2006, derrikecope.com reports: Derrike gave us an update before qualifying. “We will be attempting to qualify at Bristol this weekend. The team has really worked hard to finish a car that was purchased from Penske racing. It is a more updated car from last year. So we are hopeful that we can have a good performance tomorrow in qualifying. I have had good success at Bristol and am really looking forward to tomorrow.”(Derrike Cope site)
AND Sundance Vacations reached a full season agreement with McGlynn Racing to sponsor the Derrike Cope driven NASCAR Nextel Cup Dodge for the remaining races of the 2006 race season. The Sundance Vacations’ marketing campaign is centered on the company’s Ultimate Sports Giveaway. The winner of the sweepstakes will receive 6 tickets to the sports event of their choice including the Daytona 500. Sundance Vacations joins My Guardian 911 and Royal Administration on the #74 Dodge. Although, My Guardian 911 is the primary sponsor for most races, the national wholesale travel company will take the primary sponsor position for the Neighborhood Excellence 400 presented by Bank of America at Dover International Speedway, the Pocono 500 at Pocono International Speedway and the USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.(McGlynn Racing PR)(3-24-2006) - Compton Starts Late Model Teams: Stacy Compton will field a pair of NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series Late Model Stock Cars this year. The cars will compete weekly at separate Virginia NASCAR tracks where Compton established his own NASCAR career more than a decade ago. Steven Berry, 17 of Huddleston, Va., and Adam Barker, 19, of Altavista, Va., both applied for their 2006 NASCAR licenses on March 21. Compton’s team, officially known as Turn One Racing LLC, is being guided by General Manager Herb Bailey, who worked with Compton in Late Model Stock Cars, as well as Steve Dalton who will crew chief Barker’s car.(NASCAR PR)(3-24-2006)
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