May 4, 2004
- News about Jerry Nadeau: Jerry Nadeau has dedicated himself to racing since he was a toddler, so sitting out a year with a head injury is “probably the worst thing in the world” to him. Still, common sense and recent history tell Nadeau that he shouldn’t rush himself back into the car. Nadeau sustained a serious head injury in an accident at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway on May 2 of last year. People close to Nadeau notice improvement in his speech and demeanor every week. But he still can’t feel the left side of his body and his vision isn’t as clear as it was before the crash. “I figure I’m about 75% there,” Nadeau says. “I obviously rattled my cage quite a bit, and I’m just waiting for all the marbles to shake out.” For the moment, Nadeau is getting his racing fix through a sophisticated computer simulator; he’s pretty sure he has raced online against Dale Earnhardt Jr., a noted computer racing fiend who races under an alias. Nadeau also worked as an instructor at a go-kart racing school last weekend. And he’s working out with a trainer three days a week. “I don’t think there’s any doubt he’s coming back,” says Jay Frye, general manager of MBV Motorsports, the team Nadeau was racing for at the time of the wreck. “The question is when.” MBV put Nadeau in a car for a test session in December, with mixed results, and probably will have him test again in the next few months. If that goes well, the next step for Nadeau likely will come not in Cup, but in ARCA or another lower-tier racing series. Fortunately for Nadeau, he doesn’t feel financial pressure to return right away. “I guess I was smart,” he says. “I had a good insurance plan before I even got into Winston (now Nextel) Cup. When I got hurt, my insurance plan took over, and it allowed me to sit back and heal.” Still, Nadeau isn’t quite sure what he’ll do if racing doesn’t work out. “It’s not like I have a business or could start a job and know what the hell I was doing,” he says. “It’s frustrating not to have a (college) degree in something — I’ve been doing this since age 4, and the only thing I have a degree in is racing.”(USA Today), past news on my Jerry Nadeau page.(5-4-2004)
- Morgan Shepherd turning heads: All the Nextel Cup “young guns” had better start looking behind them because they’re being chased by a wily veteran – 62-year-old #89-Morgan Shepherd. Sunday at California Speedway, Shepherd stayed on the lead lap for almost 60 laps but left the race because of electrical problems after completing 163 laps in the California heat. He finished 36th, and the $65,025 probably didn’t cover his expenses. On April 18 at Martinsville, Shepherd, who has recorded five Cup wins and 15 Busch Series victories, completed 492 laps and was running at the end of the grueling short- track race. Despite having only a one-car, one-engine team, he has competed in five Nextel Cup races this season and is 42nd in the standings. “I am a racer,” Shepherd said. “I’m here to race.”(Rocky Mountain News)(5-4-2004)
- Kerry gets shunned by Mikey UPDATE: Kerry Earnhardt was so angry at Michael Waltrip for their run-in at Talladega that he grabbed a radio from the DEI rig during the race and tried to talk to Waltrip, but Waltrip wouldn’t reply. Then Earnhardt, according to sources, showed up at DEI’s Monday meeting, to talk with Waltrip, but Waltrip skipped the meeting.(Winston Salem Journal)(5-3-2004)
UPDATE: Kerry Earnhardt is Montana with Richard Childress fishing (they are shooting a segment for an upcoming show called NASCAR Outdoors – not sure where or when it will air). Earnhardt is not blaming Waltrip for the incident and knows it was not intentional. He told Claire B. Lang on XM Satellite Radio [before Earnhardt left for Montana]: “I’m sure Michael didn’t intend on taking me out, he just come down, I think [Jeff] Gordon was there [Gordon tapped Waltrip, who had no place to go]. He got turned sideways and, fortunate for him that I was on the bottom to keep him from going through the infield there. So, it was an unfortunate situation for myself to get taken out in that manner – but it was part of racing – it was speedway racing. I’m sure all those other (Talladega) wrecks didn’t happen intentionally either.”(XM Satellite – NASCAR Radio 144)(5-4-2004) - Dale Earnhardt Foundation Partners with American Forests: The Dale Earnhardt Foundation and American Forests announced a partnership under which the Foundation will provide American Forests with an initial planning grant in support of its plans to plant 77,000 trees to restore local forests damaged by storm, disease, neglect and development. The joint announcement was made during the celebration of the third annual Dale Earnhardt Day, which coincides with Arbor Day and the late racing legend’s birthday. The ceremony featured the planting of seven trees — symbolizing Earnhardt’s seven Winston Cup victories — in honor of his longstanding commitment to the conservation of natural resources and the start of the American Forests initiative.(PNN Online)(5-4-2004)
- Jeff Gordon named 1st Qtr NASCAR USG Person of the year: Through his personal foundation, Jeff Gordon has been able to donate nearly $500,000 to local and national charities this year. In addition to his charitable contributions to Riley Hospital for Children, The Make-A-Wish Foundation, the American Lung Association of North Carolina and The Victory Junction Gang Camp.(NASCAR PR)(5-4-2004)
- DR. Boogity? NASCAR legend Darrell Waltrip will deliver the commencement address to the 137th graduating class of Kentucky Wesleyan College in his hometown of Owensboro, Ky. on Saturday, May 8 at 10am/ct in KWC’s Hocker-Hall Grove. The three-time NASCAR Champion will be presented KWC’s highest honor, the degree Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, (LL.D.) following his address to the graduating class. “Not only has Darrell Waltrip reached the pinnacle of the motorsports world, but he had also conceived and founded a ministry to racing families,” said KWC President Dr. Wesley H. Poling. His commitment to his sport and to the personal faith of his fellow sportsmen is exemplary, and we are proud to recognize his achievements.” Waltrip currently serves as the Lead Analyst for the NASCAR on FOX TV race broadcasts. He retired from NASCAR Cup racing in 2000, and he now competes occasionally in the Craftsman Truck Series. Waltrip is tied for third on NASCAR’s all-time victory list with 84. In 2000, Waltrip garnered the ultimate award in his career when he received the Bill France Award of Excellence from NASCAR. He also twice received NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver Award in 1989 and 1990 and was a three-time American Driver of the Year award recipient in 1977, 1981 and 1982. He was selected as NASCAR’s Driver of the Decade 1980s. The state of Tennessee also honored Waltrip with their Professional Athlete of the Year award in 1979. In 1988, he founded Motor Racing Outreach, a ministry for NASCAR families across America who have no worship opportunities at racetracks on Sunday mornings. Waltrip’s driving career began at the age of 12 when he raced go-karts and entered his first stock car race four years later. After one dirt track race Waltrip soon found his niche on the pavement. After success as one of the nation’s top short-track drivers, Waltrip decided in 1975 to become a full-time NASCAR competitor. And the rest is history. Kentucky Wesleyan College is a four-year, United Methodist Church affiliated, co-educational institution offering a wide range of majors in the liberal arts, as well as specialized programs in communication arts and criminal justice.(PR)(5-4-2004)
- Fox Sports / NASCAR This Morning / First Response K9 Recovery Auction: Fox Sports / NASCAR This Morning / First Response K9 Recovery has teamed up to offer a fan and a guest a morning visit at the “NASCAR This Morning” studios and a meet and greet with John Roberts, Bill Ingle, Kenny Wallace and Chad Little, the hosts of the show. After the show begins its broadcast the two visitors make their way as guests to the control room were they get to watch the inner workings of the live broadcast while being escorted by Scott Davis of First Response K9 Recovery. In addition to the morning at the studio, the two participants receive a one nights stay at the Hampton Inns and Suites, and chauffeured ground transportation to and from the airport if applicable. See the full PR and links to the eBay Auctions on my Racing Charities page.
AND First Response K9 Recovery and their Lunch with Larry McReynolds auction was mentioned on Fox Sports Net’s Totally NASCAR, more info at the auction go to the eBay Auction.(5-4-2004) - Sad News: A stock car driver who finished third in a race died of an apparent heart attack. Butch Renninger, 62, collapsed while sitting in his car on the front straightaway at the Port Royal (Pa.) Speedway on Saturday night. He had just finished a 30-lap Enduro stock car race and was talking to friends and crew. Rescue workers tried to revive him. He was transported to Lewistown Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Renninger raced for decades at several central Pennsylvania tracks, winning 41 races at the Port Royal track and championships at the Port Royal and Bedford speedways. He is survived by his wife, Carol, children and grandchildren.(nbc10.com)(5-4-2004)
- Remember Angela’s Motorsports? As president of The Ad Ranch, Chris Greta heard a lot of bold startup ideas from high-tech companies. But even he was surprised and intrigued by the plan that Angela Harkness and Gary D. Jones pitched to him in June 2002. “They said Angela had been a bikini model at some races, and they wanted to get into NASCAR,” said Greta, who was hired to create their promotional material. Harkness, a former stripper who said she had taught kindergarten, and Jones, a bank vice president, both from Austin, had no experience in racing, where running a team on the second-tier Busch Series circuit can cost $6 million a year. But five months later, after little background checking by NASCAR and the Ford Motor Co. and other suppliers, they had put together a dream team for the 2003 racing season. They hired a veteran driver [Mike McLaughlin], they bought cars, and they outfitted a garage in the heart of NASCAR country. As a woman and an African-American man, they were bright new faces who brought diversity to NASCAR, a sport rapidly growing beyond its Southern good ol’ boy roots. Doors swung open. Jones and Harkness walked through. Others followed. Then, just days before the 2003 season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway, the team’s checks, some for thousands of dollars, began bouncing. “It went up in smoke in just a few days,” Jay Robinson, another racing team owner, said shortly after the demise of Angela’s Motorsports. Now, a year later, Jones is in federal custody in Waco, set to stand trial May 17 on charges that he embezzled almost $1 million while working at a Wells Fargo branch in Austin and funneled money to his failed racing team. Harkness has pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit bank fraud and embezzlement and had agreed to testify against Jones. She was set to be sentenced May 21, but prosecutors think she recently left the country and have issued a warrant for her. If convicted, Jones faces up to 30 years in prison. Harkness agreed to plead guilty to one conspiracy count and seemed to be in line for a light sentence in exchange for her information about Jones, but that deal likely changed when she disappeared this month. She failed to report to authorities April 6, and one of her sisters later told a court officer that Harkness left the country in March, according to a court order seeking her return.(this is a HUGE column, see it at the Austin American-Statesman, but you need to register to view it all)(5-4-2004)
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