Welcome, gay NASCAR fans! We had five guys in the top
10 on Sunday, which was real respectable. A big tip of
the cap to Brian Vickers, who came in 3rd and Kasey
Khane, who came in 2nd after a really exciting run
that had us hoping he might hold on and take it. But alas, as the endless pre-race build-up strongly suggested, it was Tony's
time to shine at his home track, and he did.
The invocation was said by the Rev. Howard Brammer,
who worked in flag references with one of those deals
like, "the caution flag reminds us of..." That prayer
reminded me of the wonderful old country song where
the soldier uses a deck of cards to tell some of the
main facts from the Bible ("the trey is for the three
Wise Men..."). Diamond Rio sang the National Anthem.
Have they ever had Diamond Dallas Page as a guest
Diamond? What about Atlanta's legendary Diamond Lil?
Just wondering. They need to.
The start command was given by the track's board
chairperson, Mari Hulman George. Ms. George has such
an amazing life story that I like to repeat it in this
space every year, the way you would read "A Visit from
St. Nicholas" to a baby at Christmas. See the part
below about this lady's incredible story.
Elliott Sadler sat on the pole -- there's an image to
make you holler "Oh, Uncle Peter! Bring my smelling
salts!" -- and led all the early laps. By lap 22, he
was catching the stragglers. But at lap 23, Bobby
Hamilton Jr. suffered the first of the day's many cut
tires. Elliott still led at the restart. Brian was
2nd, and Jeremy Mayfield was 3rd. At lap 38, Jeff
Green lost a tire. Caution came out at lap 47 after
Casey Mears spun with help from that tacky Kurt Busch.
At lap 58, the tire bug bit Joe Nemechek. Our boy
Casey Mears was leading at the restart!
Then, our team's chances (along with the hopes of
millions of red-wearing backstretchers across the
NASCAR nation) took a big bashing when, on the
restart, Jr. got turned by Mike Skinner and was
through for the day. The day, and, say many, the year.
Poor, poor Jr.!
At lap 70, Kasey passed Casey in some hot Kasey on
Casey action! Long about this part, my notes go fuzzy,
but Jimmie Johnson lost a right front and took a hard,
hard hit that left him clearly confused. Immediately
after contact with the wall, Jimmie skillfully guided
his car to his pit box -- and then we saw it was on
fire! Nero Trask (see letter at left) is right on
comment on Chad Knaus' quick action to save his driver
as a sign of great devotion among the men on this team. We sure hope Jimmie is OK now.
For quite a while, it looked like our super-smooth
race puppy Kasey would bring home that big gaudy
trophy, but no, Tony took the lead for the last time
at lap 149 and held it to the end.
Given all the pre-show buzz about Tony's dream, the
victory looked about as concocted as his recent
fence-climbing. And by the way, this was the second time I've seen
Tony climb out victorious, drink a Coca-Cola, and then
collapse. Here in Atlanta, we are trained in school
never to criticize Coca-Cola -- but hey, I'm just
saying... GoogleNews "corn syrup" and "diabetes"
together and see what you find.
THE MARI HULMAN GEORGE STORY!
According to the Web site of the Indianapolis Star:
Mari's dad, Tony Hulman Jr., bought the Indy
speedway when it was just a weedy mess after WWII.
Tony got folks to saying, "Gentlemen, start your
engines!"
After he got too sick to say it, he got his wife,
Mary Fendrich Hulman, to say it!
After she got too sick to say it, she got their
only child, Mari Hulman, to say it!
In 1957, Mari married Elmer George, an
unsuccessful racecar driver. They had four kids. Mary
was the speedway chair, and Elmer was the vice
president in charge of international radio.
On race day in 1976, Elmer argued by phone with
his horse trainer, then after, the race, went over and
contronted the guy, who then shot him dead! The jury
did not indict the trainer!
Mari and Elmer's son Tony became president and CEO
when Elmer died.
In a really messy 1989 divorce trial, Tony's "use
of cocaine and marijuana was revealed," according to
the Indy Star!
Gosh, no wonder Mari looks like she's seen it all! She
really has!
KASEY FEVER!
It's cute to watch the rest of the world catching onto
what we Gaytona fans have known since last year: Kasey
Khane is a king-dog hottie! A chick at work today
said, like she was giving me some news, "wow, that
Kasey Khane is really cute!" Everybody's catching on,
I tell you.
This week, we loved the Allstate commercial in which an SUV full of girls is backing into a parking spot at the race when they spy Kasey
walking by. The video goes all slo-mo, while the
soundtrack plays the old make-out number, "Never, My
Love." All the girls go into a kind of trance,
especially the driver, who backs right into a big sign
and knocks the pole down! Pretty funny.
Well friends, next week we make our last trip this
year to a road course. We'd love to see Jamie show out
and bull his way into the top 10! Get a move on, boys!
Chase time's a-coming! See you at The Glen, y'all! Let's
all meet up down at the Track Bar!
Love,
Betty Jack DeVine
E ME at Bettyjack@gaytona.com
