NASCAR News 2007

[Unklescott]

This story is very reminiscent of Pat Tillman. Basically here's the story of a man who walked away from NASCAR to join the National Guard. He comes from a well to do family, a very successful real estate developer himself. My hat's off to this man and the many more like him who make up our armed forces.

Amick member of National Guard unit to be deployed in Kabul
By Rick Houston, Special to NASCAR.COM
December 7, 2006

The house where Lyndon and Melanie Amick live with their three young sons sits well back in the woods, just outside of Saluda, S.C.

It is a large and beautiful structure, not a mansion, really, but a building that's obviously been put together with an eye toward warmth and comfort. There are toys here and there outside, as well as golf clubs, adult-sized and for kids. The porches are long and wide. They're perfect for watching the deer that often wander through the forest.

Inside, the rooms are spacious. The high-ceilinged and sunlit main living area features a couch that would sit -- and sleep -- an entire family. There's a hot tub here, a playroom for sons Billy, 4, Drake, 1, and 4-month-old Jonas. Really, this is 5,000 square feet of contented Southern living.

In ways that defy both explanation and imagination, it is a very, very long way from Saluda, S.C. to Kabul, Afghanistan.

Within just a few months, Spc. Lyndon Amick will be in the heart of Afghanistan, deployed there with his South Carolina National Guard unit, Bravo Company of the 1st Battalion -- 118th Infantry Regiment based out of Fountain Inn. A former Busch and Craftsman Truck Series driver, Amick once lived the life of a young up-and-coming racer. He gave up his NASCAR career to join the Guard, and by May, Amick will be on the ground in a country that has been ravaged by war for centuries.

Amick says that he's "very familiar" with the story of Pat Tillman, another professional athlete who gave up his sport -- in Tillman's case, as a safety with the Arizona Cardinals of the NFL -- to defend his country. A member of the elite U.S. Army Rangers, Tillman was killed in action April 22, 2004.

Amick is trained as an airborne infantryman, and in Afghanistan, will serve in security details that may range from patrols in and around the Kabul area to protecting various VIPs. The life he will lead will be light years removed from the one he is leaving behind at home. A member of what's surely one of South Carolina's wealthiest families and a successful real estate developer in his own right, Amick was most definitely not forced into joining the military in order to make ends meet.
Rest of story

You really need to read the rest of the story. Here's a quote from the end.

"Who should be doing what I'm doing?" Amick asked. "Should it be a guy that's flat broke? ... Who should be the guys over there fighting? The answer is everybody. It shouldn't be only a certain part of the population.

"Yeah, my family has been very blessed, very fortunate. I'm very blessed, very fortunate. But, hey, I need to be over there just as bad as anybody else does because we're all Americans, regardless of background."

It certainly warmed my heart.

[Unklescott]

Robert Yates has talked Ricky Rudd out of retirement. I'm glad to see this. I hope it helps RYR get back on track.

Ricky Rudd: Joins Robert Yates Racing
RotoWire.com Staff - RotoWire.com
Sunday, December 10, 2006

Update: Rudd will join Robert Yates Racing, driving the No. 28 Mars Company [was the No. 88] sponsored Ford, replacing Dale Jarrett. Butch Hylton will continue in his role as the Yates No. 28 team's crew chief sportingnews.com reports.

Recommendation: Huge news on the silly season front. Rudd is coming out of retirement and back to full-time racing in Nextel Cup. The No. 88 team that Jarrett piloted will now change to the No. 28 and Mars Company will be the primary sponsor. Rudd will get the benefit of the No. 88 team's owners points and provisional starts for the beginning of the 2007 season. Rudd instantly becomes a solid fantasy racing option in this team.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/news?...e&type=fantasy

[Unklescott]

GORDON AND VANDEBOSCH 'EXPECTING' 12/13/06 10:35 AM
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (December 13, 2006) - Ingrid Vandebosch, wife of four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon, is pregnant.


"We're obviously very excited," said Gordon, who announced his engagement at Infineon Raceway in June and married Vandebosch on November 7. "Christmas came early for us this year.


"This is a very special gift for us – one that we're both looking forward to. The due date is early July, and Ingrid and I can't wait to be parents.


"We've known for a little while, but we couldn't wait any longer to share the good news with our friends and fans."
http://www.jeffgordon.com/news/fulls...ategoryID=1126

This certainly explains the quick wedding in Mexico.

[Unklescott]

From Jayski's. Sounds like things aren't going very well at DEI.

Teresa Earnhardt questioning Earnhardt Jr.'s commitment?: Dale Earnhardt Inc. team owner Teresa Earnhardt appears to be questioning stepson #8-Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s commitment to racing in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. The story in Thursday's edition [subscription only] says Earnhardt Jr.'s contract with the team founded by his father expires after the 2007 season, but Teresa Earnhardt expressed uncertainty about his future. "Right now the ball's in his court to decided on whether he wants to be a NASCAR driver or whether he wants to be a public personality." Earnhardt Jr. "was not available for comment" on the statement, the story said.(SceneDaily.com)(12-15-2006)

[Ilikai]

hmmmm, at least he isn't a public personality like the Busch boys.

[Unklescott]

I was surprised to read this at Jayski's.

Little Debbie sponsorship note: The #21-Wood Brother's part time sponsor, Little Debbie snacks, is run by Seventh Day Adventists. From sundown Friday till sundown Saturday, the team has to cover all Little Debbie logos on the hauler, wear non-L. D. attire and remove all L. D. livery from the race car.(Autoweek)(3-16-2006)

[bbnbama]

http://entertainment.tv.yahoo.com/en...738862000.html

Model Niki Taylor Marries NASCAR Driver

Fri Dec 29, 2:37 AM ET

Model Niki Taylor and NASCAR driver Burney Lamar have tied the knot. The couple married Wednesday before 60 guests at the Grande Colonial Hotel in the La Jolla area of San Diego, Taylor's manager, Lou Taylor, told Us Weekly magazine in a story posted on its Web site Thursday night.

Taylor, 31, and Lamar, 26, met at a charity event in January 2006, according to her Web site.

"I looked at Burney and said to myself, 'This is the guy I'm going to marry,'" Taylor told the magazine.

It was the first marriage for Lamar and the second for Taylor, who has 11-year-old twin boys from her previous marriage to former football player Matt Martinez.

The two divorced in 1996.

Taylor lives in Nashville, Tenn., where she owns a clothing boutique.

[misskitty]

Attachment 18960

I am so happy for Niki! I hope their family is extremely happy. She has had such a terrible time recuperating from the death of her little sister from asthma, having to quit modelling, having depression. I wish her nothing but the best. And isn't she just gorgeous!

Here's a few more details on the wedding.

Model Niki Taylor Weds NASCAR Driver
Supermodel Niki Taylor has married NASCAR driver Burney Lamar after a four-month engagement, PEOPLE has confirmed.

Surrounded by about 60 guests including her children Jake and Hunter Martinez, Taylor and Lamar wed in a ceremony Wednesday at the Grande Colonial Hotel in La Jolla, Calif., according to her rep, Lou Taylor. The bride wore a Vera Wang dress aside her older sister Joelle Bolline, who served as matron of honor, and her niece, who was a flower girl.

For even more of a hometown touch, the ceremony was officiated by the couple's Brentwood, Tenn., church pastor. But for their first dance together, the newlyweds went along with La Jolla's oceanfront vibe, picking surfer-singer-songwriter Jack Johnson's romantic "Better Together."

Afterward, guests were treated to a five-course lunch including squash soup, potato gnocchi with wild mushrooms, steak and lobster.

In lieu of gifts, Lamar and Taylor had asked guests to send donations to Victory Junction Gang Camp, a North Carolina camp for seriously ill children.

It was only in September that Lamar asked for the onetime Sports Illustrated and Cover Girl model's hand in marriage while her parents watched, her rep told PEOPLE at the time.

Taylor, 31, now a clothing entrepreneur and a mother of two, told PEOPLE in July that she had wanted to find the right man, but wasn't in a hurry. "If I have a date, then I have a date, but it's all about (sons) Jake and Hunter right now."

Taylor's 11-year-old twins are from her three-year marriage to Arena Football League player Matt Martinez, which ended in 1996.

Lamar, 26, was a rookie last season in the NASCAR Busch Series, but was replaced near the end of the season, according to the Associated Press.

http://www.people.com/people/article...005541,00.html

[Ilikai]

From ThatsRacing.com

http://www.thatsracin.com/mld/thatsracin/16392833.htm

Benny Parsons in ICU at Charlotte hospital
DAVID POOLE
dpoole@charlotteobserver.com

Benny Parsons is in the intensive care unit at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte as doctors treat serious complications stemming from the 1973 NASCAR Cup series champions treatment for lung cancer this year.

Parsons retired as a driver and 1988 and since has become one of racing’s most popular television and radio analysts. He worked races for NBC and TNT this year while having his treatments and is also the host of a weekly radio talk show on the Performance Racing Network.

Parsons is not allowed visitors at this time. Fans and friends in the industry can send messages to him and his family at bp@goprn.com


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Hope he pulls through, its prayer time.

[Ilikai]

Robby Gordon is piloting a Hummer again in this years Dakar Rally that started today, 1-6-07. Its from Lisbon to Dakar again this year. Gordon is 13th in the car catagory after stage 1.