April 17, 2003
- Second Annual Dale Earnhardt Day is Tuesday, April 29th: Teresa Earnhardt is hosting the second annual Dale Earnhardt Day to take place at the headquarters of their company, Dale Earnhardt, Inc. The day-long event from 8:00am – 9:00pm is in conjunction with Dale’s birthday as a celebration of his life and racing accomplishments. Last year, more than 12,000 fans attended the inaugural Dale Earnhardt Day and this year looks to be even bigger. For the second time ever, fans will be allowed behind the walls of Dale Earnhardt, Inc. to view race cars and cars from Dale’s Classic Car Collection in the Interior Showroom. Some of these have never been seen by the public and are being put on display for this special occasion. Also, there will be a musical display in conjunction with the upcoming Dale Earnhardt Tribute Concert at Daytona International Speedway on June 28th. There will be albums, autographed guitars and photos from Dale’s personal collection in the Retail Showroom. See what types of music Dale enjoyed and some of the stars he and Teresa met, too. Fans that make their way to our headquarters will get the chance to win two DEInsider subscriptions for www.daleearnhardtinc.com per hour. Fans will be able to purchase tickets to the Dale Earnhardt Tribute Concert on the grounds during the day. And, there will be exclusive Dale Earnhardt Day merchandise available, as well. There will be giveaways from our various sponsors and photos with the Dale Earnhardt Tribute Concert car that Dale Earnhardt, Jr. drove to victory in the Busch Series race at Talladega Superspeedway. A percentage of all Retail Store sales will go the Dale Earnhardt Foundation. Throughout the day, Totally NASCAR will be taping the day’s events to use on their show later that night. The Tim Clark Band from South Carolina will perform from 7:00 – 9:00pm/et. The local Mooresville community is readily embracing Dale Earnhardt Day this year with three hotels offering special room rates and a shuttle service to and from Dale Earnhardt, Inc. for fans staying at the hotels and those who just want to attend the event. All hotels are located at the Mooresville Exit 36 off I-77 located near our headquarters. Fairfield Inn by Marriott, 704-663-6100
Wingate Inn, 704-664-4900 (nice place, Jayski stayed there in Dec)
Hampton Inn & Suites, 704-660-7700
During the morning, there will be a live, on-site radio broadcast by local country station WKKT 96.9 FM, The Kat. In addition to information about Dale Earnhardt Day; fans traveling to our headquarters will get traffic updates throughout the day from the station, as well. Also, some other Charlotte area radio stations will be taking part in the festive day with live broadcasts and appearances by their on-air personalities.
The following stations will be broadcasting live from our corporate headquarters:
5 – 9 a.m.: WKKT 96.9 (The Kat) – Paul Schadt & Sarah
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.: WWMG Magic 96.1 – Chuck Boozer
3 – 7 p.m.: WEND 106. 5(The END) – Kristen & Jack will be doing the Budweiser Lounge show
The following will be making on-air personality and station appearances:
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.: WRFX 99.7 (The Fox) Wilson from the “Fox at Night”
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.: WFMX 106.7 FM (DEI PR)(4-17-2003) - Bye-Bye Taurus in 2006-2007? UPDATE but will be back in 2004: Ford Motor Co. plans to phase out its midsize Taurus by 2006 or 2007, and three vehicles under development will replace it, according to people involved in the plans. Two of them will go on sale next year: the Five Hundred, a large, Audi-like sedan, and the Freestyle, a combination sport-utility vehicle and station wagon that shares a similar European styling and will replace the Taurus wagon. This week at the media preview of the New York International Automobile Show, Ford executives will release the first pictures of the Futura, a midsize car aimed at the perennial champions of the car market, the Honda Accord and the Toyota Camry. The Futura is to be introduced in 2005 and will offer a hybrid version that supplements its gasoline engine with electric power.(Star Tribune). NOTE: ‘If’ this happens, no idea what Ford would use in NASCAR and not looking to guess, have seen images of the Five Hundred, as sposted on my Ford News and Links Page.(4-16-2003)
UPDATE: A Taurus badged race car will be utilized in NASCAR competition in the 2004 season, according to Greg Specht, manager, North American Racing Operations Ford Racing Technology. “I can say for the record that we’ll be racing a Taurus in ’04,” said Specht regarding the future of the Taurus. “The Taurus is changing, the production car – the showroom car, is changing in 2004. And our race car is being changed to reflect those differences. According to NASCAR rules, any car a manufacturer wants to use in competition must be submitted for approval to the Daytona Beach, Fla. sanctioning body no later than July 1 the year prior to its desired rollout. That means that if Ford wants to run a redesigned Ford Taurus in 2004, it must be in NASCAR’s hands by July 1, 2003. Asked if the Taurus might be replaced with another make after 2004, Specht replied, “I can say for sure that we’re going to race a Taurus in ’04.” (Ford Racing)(4-17-2003) - Not A Happy Camper – NASCAR fan faces prison time for flooding Fox with angry e-mails UPDATE: A man, angered that Fox Entertainment preempted NASCAR racing for Red Sox baseball, sent more than 530,000 e-mail messages to WFXT, disabling the Fox Entertainment website for several hours, according to the US attorney’s office. Michael Melo was charged in Boston yesterday with damaging a protected computer, a misdemeanor. Prosecutors say Melo wrote a computer program that automatically sent electronic messages to WFXT repeatedly between April and May 2001. Fox, fearing a denial of service attack, responded by shutting down its website for several hours, authorities said.(Boston Globe)(4-16-2003)
UPDATE: A NASCAR fan faces up to a year in prison for flooding Fox Entertainment with more than a half-million e-mails because he was angry the network aired a Boston Red Sox game instead of an auto race. Michael Melo of Billerica [MA] has agreed to plead guilty to a federal misdemeanor charge of damage to a protected computer system, his attorney said Wednesday. The action forced the network to shut down part of its Web site. Melo designed a program that repeatedly sent the same six e-mails to Fox Entertainment Group Inc. in Los Angeles over a few days in late April and early May 2001. The messages were sent through the company’s Boston-area affiliate, according to the federal complaint. ”He was just very upset that the Red Sox would pre-empt NASCAR, so he decided to send these messages to express his views,” said Melo’s lawyer, Andrew Good. Fox received more than 530,000 e-mails from Melo. Fearing a hacker was attacking its computer system, the company shut down a portion of its Web site, costing Fox $36,000, according to federal prosecutors. Also, by taking a portion of its Web site down, Fox Entertainment was unable to communicate via computer with WFXT-TV 25 in suburban Boston for several hours, and left the local affiliate unable to receive viewer e-mail, prosecutors said. The federal complaint did not specify the exact content of the e-mails. The charge carries a maximum of one year in prison. Melo, who works in the computer industry and has no prior criminal record, will ask for probation, Good said. No date has been set for his plea hearing and sentencing.(Boston Globe/AP)(4-17-2003) - Martinsville TV Ratings: Martinsville Ratings Gets Impressive Small Market Bump for 5.3 Final Number. The viewers in the smaller markets turned out in a big way to give NASCAR on FOX from Martinsville a big boost. Nielsen Media Research reports that the final numbers were a 5.3 rating and 14 share, up from a 4.6 rating and 10 share in the overnights. The race was the second-highest rated sporting event of the weekend, finishing behind the 8.3 rating turned in by The Masters on Sunday. The golf tournament from Augusta declined from a 9.3 overnight rating. The NASCAR numbers represent 5,631,000 households and almost 8 million viewers. Last year’s race was on FX, so a direct comparison can’t be made. It finished with a 4.5 cable rating (within the April 2002 FX universe) and 3.4 million households. The 2001 race on FOX finished with a 5.4 rating and 15 share, slightly ahead of this year’s numbers.(MotorsportsTV)(4-17-2003)
- Yates job is news to Pemberton: Robin Pemberton just chuckles when asked about him name being in the rumor mill as a possible player in the #88 car reorganization process. His reason is very simple — he has not been approached by Robert Yates about the job. “Yeah, I saw that,” said Pemberton regarding Internet reports that he was on the Yates reorganization short list. “But no one’s called me about a job. That includes Yates. I’m just doing my job here and see the rumors and kind of have to laugh about them.” Pemberton has been busy with numerous projects since coming on-board with Ford in February and says that his job as Ford’s director of field operations is quite unlike any other he’s had before. “I’m kind of like a doctor,” said Pemberton. “Stopping here and there, helping as I can. I offer what advice and suggestions I can and move on to the next shop.” (Ford Racing)(4-17-2003)
- Kenseth Leads Vote: The more than 42,000 fans who participated in first-quarter voting for Driver of the Year on the Speed Channel Web site tabbed Winston Cup points leader Matt Kenseth as their choice over Daytona 500 champion Michael Waltrip. But the 18-member media panel that voted via teleconference Wednesday leaned toward CART points leader Paul Tracy and Winston Cup star Dale Earnhardt Jr. [not sure how as he was not one of the nominee’s] The initial quarterly winner of 2003 will be announced during Speed News on Speed Channel at 6:00pm Saturday.(Fort Worth Star Telegram)(4-17-2003)
- Long to attempt the Winston Open: Glenn Racing will team up with Carl Long to run the Winston Open at the Lowes Motor Speedway on May 17th. They will be entering a Dodge and borrowing the #26 from Travis Carter.(Glenn Racing Site)
AND Thee Dixon, owner of Mansion Motorsports, plans to enter a truck for Carl Long to drive in the Hardee’s 200 Truck Series race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in May. Norman Negre will be the crew chief. The team is working on acquiring sponsorship for the race.(Carl Long Racing site)(4-17-2003) - Speedway Children’s Charities use racing stars to raise money: Many kids love auto racing, and it seems racers like kids, too — and show it through Speedway Children’s Charities. John Bisci, public-relations manager for the charities and the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, said the charities were created in 1984 by O. Bruton Smith, founder of Speedway Motorsports Inc., which has six tracks around the country, including the one in Las Vegas. “He decided to start a charity that benefited children,” Bisci said. All money raised in Southern Nevada stays there; Bisci said that last year, the charities made grants totaling $228,000 to 31 local groups, including St. Jude’s Ranch for Children, the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Southern Nevada, Candlelighters for Childhood Cancer of Southern Nevada and Amerindian Inc. The money comes from several fund-raising events. The recent charity golf tournament, for example, netted $13,500. But the charities’ biggest money-maker is the annual driver auction. The most recent one, held Feb. 28, brought in $145,720. Bisci noted the auction coincided with the Winston Cup Series and Busch Series races. All of the Winston Cup Series drivers and the top 20 drivers from the Busch Series were auctioned at Sam’s Town Live, he said. Those who can’t attend the meet-and-greet — for which fans pay $35 just to see their heroes — are auctioned, although Bisci said they normally bring in more money if they’re there. Fans bid for the chance to ride around the track with the driver during introductions before the race. And the bids are big. Bisci said the top bid was $7,000 for Rusty Wallace last year; this year, the top bid was $6,400 for Tony Stewart. “Somebody paid $6,400 to go a mile and a half in a convertible with Tony Stewart,” he said with a touch of wonder. Drivers sometimes sweeten the pot, he added. For example, Brett Bodine put his winning bidder’s name on his car, and a Busch Series driver made his bidder part of his pit crew. A big event being planned for fall, Bisci said, is a fund-raising flight aboard an 80-seat jet, provided through the cooperation of Boeing. Bisci said children including Make-a-Wish kids will be able to ride on the flight — which may go over the Grand Canyon — with local businesses bidding to sponsor their seats. The local arm of the charities has an elected board, with Keith DeRiso currently serving as chairman and Lesley Albers as director. Volunteers always are needed to assist with events, Bisci said. For more information, call Bisci at 632-8231. To make a donation, mail a check to Speedway Children’s Charities, 7000 Las Vegas Blvd. North, Las Vegas NV 89115; attention Lesley Albers.(Las Vegas Review Journal)(4-17-2003)
- Long to attempt Richmond: Carl Long’s #13 Creech Motorsports Dodge will sport a new paint scheme in the Richmond race next month. The predominantly yellow scheme will have a hot new vibe to it with the addition of red flames adorning the front and sides of the car.(Carl Long Racing site)(4-17-2003)
- Long to attempt Lowe’s: Thee Dixon, owner of Mansion Motorsports, plans to enter a truck for Carl Long to drive in the Hardee’s 200 Truck Series race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in May. Norman Negre will be the crew chief. The team is working on acquiring sponsorship for the race.(Carl Long Racing site)(4-17-2003)
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