May 8, 2006
- Sad News – Brewster: Army Sgt. Bryan Allen Brewster, 24-year-old son of Inland Valley Daily Bulletin sports editor Louis Brewster, was killed Friday along with nine others of the 10th Aviation Brigade Mountain Division in helicopter crash in a remote area of the Afghan mountains on Friday. They were not hit by enemy fire, military officials said. The aircraft went down along the Pakistan border as troops scoured a remote area of the Afghan mountains in search of al-Qaida and Taliban militants, a U.S. military official told the Associated Press. Rescuers located the wreckage in an inaccessible ravine, officials said. It is being called one of the deadliest for U.S. forces in Afghanistan in a year. A military investigation into the incident is planned. All 10 soldiers onboard, including Brewster, were based at Fort Drum in New York. Of the roughly 18,000 Americans serving in Afghanistan, about half are from the 10th Mountain Division, based at Fort Drum, according to the Associated Press. Brewster is survived by wife Kati, parents Louis and Linda, brother Scott, grandparents Louis and Sara Brewster.(Inland Valley Daily Bulletin)(5-8-2006)
- Why didn’t Harvick pit at Richmond late in race? Kevin Harvick’s #29 Chevy was so good out front during the Crown Royal 400 at Richmond International Raceway that crew chief Todd Berrier didn’t want him to pit on lap 289 with Harvick leading the Nextel Cup race. While Harvick stayed out, the rest of the field pitted. Running on older tires, Harvick eventually lost the lead and was sixth when everyone pitted again under caution with about 50 laps remaining. Harvick, who led 272 laps of the race, wound up third. Berrier figured if Harvick pitted on lap 289, other drivers would stay out. “When you’re leading the race, they’re going to do the opposite of what you’re going to do,” Berrier said after the race. “That’s kind of the way it works. … I didn’t want to come back and be 10th on the race track.” If there were no cautions after the pit stops on lap 289, only Harvick would have had to pit. But Berrier was confident that everyone would pit again. “I knew everybody would [pit again],” Harvick said. “Not that they had to. I knew they would. And they did.” Harvick’s car got tighter over the final 100 laps. “We weren’t aggressive enough [with changes],” Berrier said. “It’s awful easy to play it a little bit different when you’re chasing somebody instead of getting chased. It’s just a bad position to be in.” The crew chief obviously was disappointed. “We had a good car, but at the end of the day we didn’t win the race,” Berrier said. “It hurts.”(SceneDaily.com)(5-8-2006)
- Penske Not Happy with Busch article, Busch encounters troubles at RIR:: An angry Roger Penske met with USA Today reporters before Saturday night’s race to express his displeasure with that newspaper’s Thursday article on driver Kurt Busch [actually it was about light sentences athletes get..not just Busch, but he was pictured and featured: Athletes lightly punished after their day in court]. Busch and Penske have been trying to wipe the slate clean on all the controversies that have dogged Busch the last few years. But each time they think they’re getting over the hump, something new crops up. Saturday night’s race offered no respite. Busch was looking good early, running as high as third, but he was called for pitting outside his pit box and issued a pass-through penalty. When he returned to pit road, he was hit by NASCAR with a second penalty for speeding. By the time the three-hour race was over, Busch was a frustrated 29th.(Winston Salem Journal)(5-8-2006)
- Orange County Choppers helping Petty camp: Sunoco has teamed with Orange County Choppers to create and donate a custom motorcycle to be raffled in a Victory Junction Gang Camp fundraiser. Sunoco representatives unveiled the bike prior to the Crown Royal 400 Nextel Cup race at Richmond International Raceway in a news conference involving the Petty family, founders of the camp for chronically ill children. The bike, which resembles a vintage board-track racer, is a first for OCC. The motorcycle reflects Sunoco’s checkered royal blue and yellow colors, as well as other key references to its motorsports history. The motorcycle can be seen by fans along the route of the Petty Charity ride when it crosses the country July 22-30. The episode showing the building of the bike air on the Discovery Channel’s “American Chopper” June 19 and 26 at 10pm/et. To learn more about winning the motorcycle, visit www.victoryjunction.org and click on the bike logo.(SceneDaily.com)(5-8-2006)
- Lucky Dog Pass Stats: so far in 2006, after 10 races, five drivers have made all the races and not used a Lucky Dog/Lap Back pass: #20-Stewart, #25-Vickers, #31-Burton, #41-Sorenson, #43-Labonte. #96/44-Terry Labonte and #14-Sterling Markin have used the most at five [Labonte has only run 6 races] with #11-Hamlin and #88-Jarrett each using four. In 2006, one driver has benefitted from the Lucky Dog pass and won the race: #2-Kurt Busch at Bristol. #8-Dale Earnhardt Jr. [3rd at Atlanta] and #16-Greg Bifle [4th at Richmond] are the only other drivers this year to get a top five after using the pass. Since the Lucky Dog Pass came to be at Dover in September 2003, five drivers have won six races after getting the pass. For more, who got the passes for each race and totals along with some tidbits, see my Lucky Dog page.(5-8-2006)
- NASCAR Fatheads: Made for HUGE sports fans, Fathead makes high definition, larger-than-life vinyl wall graphics of officially licensed pro athletes, and will be launching NASCAR cars and drivers this week– joining NFL and NBA Fathead lines. The kiss-cut player graphic sticks to the wall so you can hang out with “your team” everyday, and the thick, high-grade vinyl resists rips, tears and fading. The low tack backing allows sports fans to peel, place and move their Fathead without losing adhesion or damaging walls. More at fathead.com.(5-8-2006)
- Duragloss to Sponsor MacHill at Darlington: Mac Hill Motorsports announced today that Brothers Research Corporation, makers of Duragloss, will once again be the Primary Sponsor for the Mac Hill Motorsports #56 BGN car driven by NASCAR veteran Kevin Lepage at Darlington. as primary sponsor,” commented Steve Bannes, VP of Marketing for Mac Hill Motorsports. Duraglosswas on board for the Nashville event a few weeks ago.(MacHill PR)(5-8-2006)
- Craftsman For A Cure Announced at Martinsville UPDATE 3: Craftsman Motorsports in conjunction with Bobby Hamilton Racing will host the ‘Craftsman For A Cure’ charity event which will support the American Cancer Society Relay for Life and the Victory Junction Gang Camp. ‘Craftsman For A Cure’ will give race fans the opportunity to live their racing dream, to meet and race fender-to-fender with some of their favorite NASCAR drivers at NASCAR SpeedPark in Concord, N.C., while also helping out two very important charities on May 23rd. More info on my Racing Charities Page.(4-1-2006)
UPDATE: Fans can buy tickets by calling 866-227-3264 starting April 17th for one of several unique opportunities to spend time with some of NASCAR’s top drivers. Drivers scheduled to attend include event host Bobby Hamilton, former Cup champion and FOX analyst Darrell Waltrip, former champion crew chiefs and FOX analysts Larry McReynolds and Jeff Hammond, Nextel Cup standouts Michael Waltrip, Ryan Newman, Kenny Schrader and Kyle Petty, and numerous Truck Series drivers including Todd Bodine, Ted Musgrave, Jack Sprague, David Starr, Dennis Setzer, Ron Hornaday and more.(bobbyhamiltonracing.com)(4-17-2006)
UPDATE 2: Three more Nextel Cup Series drivers have committed to be part of the Craftsman For a Cure on Tuesday, May 23 from 5 to 9 p.m. at NASCAR SpeedPark in Concord, NC. Tickets are on sale now. Brian Vickers, Kasey Kahne and Kurt Busch have been added to the driver lineup which already includes a variety of drivers from the Nextel Cup, Busch and Truck Series. Vickers will host a private dinner meeting with 20 fans, while Kahne and Busch will race with fans on some of the SpeedPark tracks. For complete details, call 1-866-227-3264 (or visit my Racing Charities Page).(Craftsman PR)(4-26-2006)
UPDATE 3: In addition to participating in a variety of activities with NASCAR drivers, the Craftsman For a Cure charity event also will feature an impressive array of items available in a silent auction that day. Items scheduled to be auctioned off include: a specially-designed Sam Bass Craftsman For a Cure Gibson guitar, autographed Tony Stewart Home Depot uniform, an autographed Mike Skinner Albertson’s uniform and photo, autographed Charlie Daniels fiddle and photo, Craftsman Patriotic American Eagle 26″ tool chest and roll-away autographed by Truck Series drivers, autographed Patrick Dempsey Grey’s Anatomy DVD, three two-night stays and dinner at the Stratosphere in Las Vegas, ticket packages to various races, autographed sheet metal, crew shirts, die casts and much more! Race fans will have the ability to bid on these items from 10 a.m. to 8 pm/et at the NASCAR SpeedPark at Concord Mills on Tuesday, May 23. Fans must be present at the close of the auction to claim their item. For more information call: 1-866-227-3264 (or visit my Racing Charities Page).(Craftsman PR)(5-8-2006)
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