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| Media Day at Daytona with Kyle Petty | | Date Created: Feb 07, 2008, 04:50 PM |
 Most drivers seem to enjoy the several hours of photos, video, film and recorded interviews with the glee of getting a root canal without Novocaine. That includes Kyle Petty, who likened it to a certain medical procedure done on us males beyond the age of 40. (Think a lubricated index finger of a surgical glove...)
But, tacky medical references aside, I found myself enthralled to listen in on Petty's numerous interviews. Despite his mock-protestations of "I'm a guy who hasn't won in 15 years! No one wants to talk to me! Let's go!," and staking his role as the self-proclaimed "king of bullshit," he managed to hold court with the same sense of wit, intelligence and story-telling skills of the driver I worked with previously. Petty is at once contagiously sharp, energetic and opinionated.
Asked about NASCAR "looking back to their roots" to gain fans, he argued forcefully that it's a new world and new business model that drives the series. NASCAR needs to look forward, not back, and the recent influx of open-wheel drivers with championship credentials "only confirms the claim that this is the best series in the world, and it should include the best drivers in the world."
He regaled the gathered scribes with his favorite Daytona memories, which include his youthful days playing on a playground immediately behind the original scoring tower at the track ("every thirty minutes or so, one of the moms would come out to make sure we hadn't killed each other") and the tumultuous finish in 1976 when David Pearson and his father, King Richard, crashed in the final turn of the final lap of the 500, prompting Kyle and the rest of the STP crew to run out onto the tri-oval grass to push the crippled #43 car closer to the finish line. ("I always watch that footage and there I am runnin' out there to push...")
Not every story was funny - he was equally as riveting when describing the pride, honor and obligation he feels everytime he steps into the #45 car that was meant for his son Adam until that bleak day in May, 2000.
Watch your fave newspapers and websites in the coming days where I am sure you'll see some of his gems mixed among the same ol' "Hendrick = the New York Yankees" tomes.
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Note to self: Double-check the lift-off time of the space shuttle.... I've been privileged to see several previous take-offs from Daytona Beach and New Smyrna, which are close enough to the Kennedy Space Center to feel, hear and see the majestic rocket's red glare as it ascends into orbit. I stopped by the local Food Lion this afternoon to stock up on pseudo-healthy snacks and bottled water for the hotel room, only to notice upon exit many of the employees and customers with their necks craning skyward. I managed to see only a few remaining whiffs of the shuttle's contrails disappear into the overcast skies. Sigh. Oh well. Maybe next time.
Tomorrow? Cars on track in anger for the first time this year prior to Saturday's Budweiser Shootout!
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