Retired Racing Legend Shot Dead
Finish Line
Richard “Dick” Trickle died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office told WBTV that the retired racing legend died shortly after noon on Thursday.
According to police, Trickle, 71, apparently called The Lincoln County Communications Center and told them “there would be a dead body and it would be his.”
First responders to the scene discovered Trickle’s body near his pick-up truck, according to Fox Sports.
“He called in,” Lt. Tim Johnson of the Lincoln County detective department. “It’s not the first time we’ve had these. It’s always a sad situation … even sadder for the family.”
Trickle made 303 starts in NASCAR’s Cup Series, per The Sporting News, and is reported to have won more than 1,200 short track races.
50 Cent tried to take Erin Andrews to the Candy Shop
Most people at the Daytona 500 will have their eyes focused on Danica Patrick, it looks like 50 Cent had his set on planting a kiss on Erin Andrews
Dale Earnhardt Jr getting his own line of potato chips
The Male Version Of Danica Patrick In Auto Racing
At this point, 14 years into NASCAR’s Dale Earnhardt Jr. craze, you’d think every conceivable product known to man already had the driver’s name or car number attached to it. There’s really nothing else Earnhardt could possibly endorse, except for maybe potato chips or something.
A Minnesota-based company announced Wednesday that it’s creating four flavors of Dale Earnhardt Jr. potato chips?
According to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, Earnhardt Jr. has partnered with a company called KLN Family Brands to create “Dale Jr. Foods,” which will distribute four flavors of potato chips: Crispy Original, Carolina Barbecue, Zesty Jalapeno and Creole & Green Onion.
Brawl Erupts after NASCAR drivers wreck
Not only did Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer trade paint during the AdvoCare 500, but they instigated a brawl in the garage area at the Phoenix International Raceway.
Tony Stewart Throws Helmet At Car
A wild wreck in the Irwin Tools Night Race on Saturday night led to an angry Tony Stewart flinging his helmet at Matt Kenseth. Stewart and Kenseth were racing for the lead on Lap 332 when they got together on the front stretch, sending both drivers spinning into the inside wall. Angry at the contact, Stewart flung his helmet at Kenseth’s car under caution. Stewart then turned and fist-pumped the crowd.
“I checked up twice (off the gas) to not run over him and I learned my lesson there—I’m going to run over him every him every chance I’ve got from now until the end of the year, every chance I’ve got,” Stewart said.
Fan Killed After Lightning Strikes NASCAR Race
Mother Nature She Is A
One fan was killed and another was in critical condition after multiple lightning strikes occurred after a NASCAR Sprint Cup race was cut short by thunderstorms Sunday at Pocono Raceway.
Track spokesman Bob Pleban said 10 fans were taken to hospitals. He said Pocono had a policy in place for emergency evacuations but said the track might not have further updates until Monday morning. Pleban said the fan, whose identity has not been released, was declared dead on arrival at Pocono Medical Center. One of the other nine injured fans was in critical condition.
Officials had not yet determined whether all of the injured fans were hit by the same lightning strike or multiple strikes.The dead fan was a 41-year-old man and reports have the victim leaning against his car when lightning struck the vehicle.
A severe storm warning was issued for the region surrounding the track at 4:12 p.m. ET, but the race wasn’t stopped until 4:50 p.m., after 98 of a scheduled 160 laps.At 4:21 p.m., the track issued warnings on its Twitter and Facebook accounts: “ATTENTION FANS: Severe thunderstorms are in the area which will produce high winds and lightning. Should arrive in 10-15 mins.” At 4:38 p.m., cars were still on the track.The race was called 12 minutes later. Pleban said an announcement was made on the track’s public address system immediately after the race advising fans to leave the grandstands because lightning was imminent. At 4:59 p.m., the track issued another warning via social media: “ATTENTION FANS: Be advised, seek shelter as severe lightning and heavy winds are in our area.”NASCAR estimated Sunday’s attendance at 85,000.
Congress Preserves Military Sponsorship Of Sports
Safe For Now
Back on June 22 we posted the report of military spending on sports being brought into question by by Congress. Now we are reporting Congress defeated two amendments Wednesday night that threatened The National Guard’s sponsorship of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and other sports sponsorships by the military.
The House voted 216-202 to defeat the amendment, sponsored by Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., and co-sponsored by Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn. Earlier in the evening, Congress removed a similar amendment in the Department of Defense Appropriations Act by procedural manners.
This is the second year in a row a bill backed by McCollum intended to limit the military’s ability to sponsor professional sports and teams failed. Her amendment was defeated twice in Congress last year. The margin this year was much closer. Last year, similar amendments were defeated 281-148 in Feb. 2011, and 260-167 in July 2011.
Wednesday’s vote ended a spirited debate that lasted more than 30 minutes. Seven representatives spoke on the House floor against the measure with Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-NC, suggesting the measure’s intent was “absurd.” Kingston and McCollum were the only ones who spoke in favor of the amendment.
The National Guard Association of the United States also applauded Congress’ work, stating,
“By striking down an amendment that would have ended professional sports sponsorships as a recruiting tool, lawmakers in the House have sided with the experts who know that affiliations with NASCAR and IndyCar have helped build the strongest and most ready force in history.”
Kingston introduced the amendment, which sought to eliminate $72.3 million marked for professional sports sponsorships by the military. Among the programs targeted were the National Guard’s sponsorship of the Hendrick Motorsports team Earnhardt drives for in the Sprint Cup Series. The Guard will spend $26 million on its NASCAR program this fiscal year. Other programs that would have been eliminated if the amendment survived was the Guard’s sponsorship of J.R. Hildebrand in IndyCar, the U.S. Army’s sponsorship of Tony Schumacher in NHRA and the Marine Corps’ sponsorship of Ultimate Fighting Championship, among others. Kingston called such programs ineffective recruiting tools.
Military Spending On Sports Sponsorships Coming Under Fire
One More Thing To Disappear From Alamodome
A ban on military spending on sports sponsorships is in a defense spending bill that will come up on the floor of U.S. House in coming weeks.
The military will spend about $80 million on sports sponsorships, meant to spur recruiting, this year. Critics like Rep. Jack Kingston, a Georgia Republican who co-authored the ban, question whether sports spending is an efficient use of marketing dollars. He’s cited a National Guard official says that the Guard’s $26 million sponsorship of Dale Earnhardt Jr. produced 28,715 “qualified leads” but only 20 of those qualified and none actually enlisted.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution quotes Earnhardt’s response to Kingston’s efforts to ban millitary sports sponsorships: “The Republican from Georgia, he hasn’t even been to a NASCAR race.”
The military facing broad future cuts, has already cut sponsorship spending $16 million this year. Besides motorsports, military spending on sports has gone to the NFL, ultimate fighting, bass fishing and even here in San Antonio for the U.S. Army All-American Bowl game.
Tony Stewart Tells Dale Earnhardt Jr Fans It’s Not A National Holiday’
It's Not Christmas?
Tony Stewart finished second in the 2004 Daytona 500, he graciously praised winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. for deserving a career-making moment. The three-time Sprint Cup champion took a decidedly different tack after finishing second Sunday to Earnhardt in the Quicken Loans 400.
Asked to sum up his feelings about NASCAR’s most popular driver ending a 143-race winless streak, Stewart offered a surly response.
“No different than anybody else that does it,” he said. “It’s not a national holiday, guys. This morning, they were celebrating his fourth anniversary of his last win, so I guess we are all in a state of mourning now because he’s broke that streak. So I wonder what we are all supposed to think.”
Friday marked four years since Earnhardt’s last win in NASCAR’s premier series, also occurring at Michigan International Speedway. The victory resulted in an overwhelming outpouring of joy from Earnhardt’s massive fan base with #DaleJr trending worldwide on Twitter shortly after the race ended.
Dale Earnhardt Jr Adds Juan Pablo Montoya Wreck Car To Collection
Do You Really Like Tide? Man
NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr has a piece of racing history added to his 50 car collection now that it has landed at his property in Cleveland, N.C. Earnhardt Jr has acquired from that famous Daytona 500 night fellow driver Juan Pablo Montoya’s car that spun out slammed into a jet dryer under caution and sent it bursting into flames.
Collecting crashed race cars is a hobby of Earnhardt’s, and the latest addition is the only one that’s caused a fiery on-track explosion and a two-hour delay in NASCAR’s biggest race. When Earnhardt found it through Chris Heroy, a former Hendrick Motorsports engineer who is the first-year crew chief for Montoya, he jumped on getting it imprecisely added to his car graveyard, adjacent to his backyard replica Western town known as Whisky River.
“I got about 50 or 60 cars out there, and I didn’t buy any of them,” Earnhardt boasted at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. “(Heroy) calls me, and I get my property manager to go over there and load it up and bring it over.”We get a forklift or a tractor with a forklift or frontend loader and just carry it into the woods and just set it out there somewhere.”
Earnhardt said the car ranked in “the top two or three” among his prized collection of twisted sheet metal.
“That one’s good. That one ranks right up there. I’ve got the car (Dennis) Setzer flipped when he was driving for Keselowski at Talladega so that was pretty cool, but it ranks right up there. It’s one of the top two or three.”
Tide Cashes In On Daytona 500 With New Commercial
After NASCAR driver Juan Pablo Montoya crashed his car into a jet blower that ignited a fire ball that would cause a delay at the Daytona 500 for two hours, the detergent company Tide has decided to capitalize on the exposure.
Mama Margie’s Major Meltdown: Ross Shimabuku
Ross Shimabuku
Every Thursday Sports Grind Entertainment will present you with the Mama Margie’s Major Meltdown. The recipient of this honor goes to San Diego FOX sports anchor Ross Shimabuku for implying a sexist slur when talking about race car driver Danica Patrick. Fox 5 San Diego suspended Shimabuku without pay for a week for his comments about Patrick. The anchor stopped just short of calling Patrick a derogatory name on the air after the NASCAR driver complained the media always describe female athletes like her as “sexy.” When the broadcast returned to Shimabuku, he responded by saying: “Oh, I’ve got a few words starts with a B, and it’s not beautiful.” Shimabuku has since apologized.
Juan Pablo Montoya Hits Safety Truck Ignites Jet Fuel
The Daytona 500 was halted by a fiery explosion caused when Juan Pablo Montoya for nearly two hours after he slammed into a jet dryer under caution. Montoya slide toward the truck which holds 200 gallons of jet kerosene setting off an explosion and sending fuel pouring onto the famed track.
Buffalo Wild Wings Blazin Player: Matt Kenseth
Matt Kenseth
Every Tuesday Sports Grind Entertainment presents you with the Buffalo Wild Wings Blazin Player of the Week. This week the recipient of this prestigious honor goes to Matt Kenseth for winning the Daytona 500. It was Kenseth’s second Daytona 500 victory as he also won the race in 2009.
Congratulations Matt Kenseth you are this weeks Buffalo Wild Wings Blazin Player.
TV anchor In Trouble For Sexist Slur Against Danica Patrick
Fox 5 San Diego’s Ross Shimabuku is backpedaling and apologizing for stopping just short of calling NASCAR driver Danica Patrick a “bitch” on-air last Monday. Fox posted a video of him apologizing on its web site Sunday. Shimabuku says he hopes Patrick has a great race today and that she’s great for the sport.
I love the part when the female anchor counters with it’s tuff for a woman to crack it in a male driven industry and Shimabuku stumbles and just throws Jimmie Johnson problems out there for discussion.
Danica Patrick Crashes At Daytona Qualifier
Danica Patrick walked away OK after taking a hard hit to the wall in her qualifying race at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday. Patrick was caught up in a crash on the final lap of the first of two 150-mile qualifying races, sending her car into the wall on the backstretch. The wreck ripped the front end off Patrick’s car, and she’ll have to use a backup car in Sunday’s Daytona 500.
Jeff Gordon’s Car Flips At Budweiser Shootout
Jeff Gordon is one of the most successful NASCAR drivers of all time but during Saturday’s Budweiser Shootout he was involved in a horrific crash at Daytona after colliding with Kurt Busch with two laps to go.
Gordon found himself upside down, and he flipped several times in what was the worst crash of his career but was able to exit his car and walk away without any injury.
NASCAR Driver Kasey Kahne Goes Nuts On Twitter After Seeing Breastfeeding
OMG
NASCAR superstar Kasey Kahne recently took a trip to the supermarket and tweeted out what he thought was a horrifying experience when he saw a woman breastfeeding her child in the produce section.
“Just walking though supermarket,” he tweeted. “See a mom breast feeding little kid. Took second look because obviously I was seeing things. I wasn’t!”
Once the driver realized that his eyes were not deceiving him, he began to tweet his disgust.
“One boob put away one boob hanging!!” he tweeted.
He then added the hashtag “nasty” for good measure.
“I don’t feel like shopping or eating anymore,” he continued.
Things got worse for Kahne, who has nearly 100,000 followers, when he received a comment he didn’t like.
“I hope someday you have a kid and someone tells your wife that feeding your child looks nasty,” a woman named Deana P. tweeted back. “Stay classy a**hole.”
Kahne responded “And your (sic) dumb b***h.”
While the driver deleted the offensive tweets, not everyone is amused.
Said one feminist blogger, “If NASCAR is a family sport, one must assume some of those family members were breastfed.”
The racing champion has now since apologized.
“I understand that my comments regarding breastfeeding posted on Twitter were offensive to some people,” Kahne acknowledged in a statement on his Facebook page. “For that, I apologize. It was in no way my intention to offend any mother who chooses to breastfeed her child, or, for that matter, anyone who supports breastfeeding children. I want to make that clear.”
“In all honestly, I was surprised by what I saw in a grocery store,” Kahne said in his apology. “I shared that reaction with my fans on Twitter. It obviously wasn’t the correct approach, and, after reading your feedback, I now have a better understanding of why my posts upset some of you.”
Jeff Gordon Shows Off Breakdancing Moves
During the NASCAR “After the Lap” event in Vegas Jeff Gordon seized the opportunity and thrilled the crowd with some break dancing at center stage that would definitely make the producers of Electric Boogaloo ponder if they should release a third movie.
Jeremy Mayfield arrested for possession of meth
Black Sheep
Former Sprint Cup driver Jeremy Mayfield, suspended indefinitely by NASCAR after a positive drug test in 2009, was arrested Tuesday night for possession of methamphetamine, WBTV.com reported Wednesday morning.
Mayfield was suspended in May 2009 after testing positive for methamphetamine. Mayfield claimed that the random drug test produced a false positive resulting from a combination of over-the-counter allergy medication and Adderall, which he took to treat attention deficit disorder.
The dispute led to a protracted legal battle. Mayfield’s lawsuit against NASCAR was dismissed in May 2010, but Mayfield sought to reopen the case. His appeal was to have been heard Nov. 8 but in August the U.S. Court of Appeals postponed the hearing, citing a crowded docket.
According to the WBTV.com report, Catawba County Sheriff’s deputies went to Mayfield’s home in Catawba, N.C., Tuesday night with a search warrant based on a tip that there was stolen property in the house. During the search, deputies found the drug. Mayfield was also charged with possession and intent to sell marijuana, SceneDaily.com reported.
Mayfield was released on $3,000 bond and had a court appearance scheduled for Wednesday morning, according to the WBTV report.
NASCAR owner Rick Hendrick in private plane crash
Thankfully Nothing Serious
A small jet carrying the owner of NASCAR’s top team and his wife lost its brakes and crash landed at Key West International Airport on Monday evening, and the couple suffered minor injuries.
The Gulfstream 150 aircraft ran off the runway at 7:45 p.m. Rick and Linda Hendrick, a pilot and co-pilot were all taken to Lower Keys Medical Centers. Rick Hendrick was diagnosed with a broken rib and collarbone, and Linda Hendrick had minor cuts and bruises.
In 2004, a plane Hendrick owned crashed en route to a race in Martinsville, Virgina, killing all 10 on-board. That included Hendrick’s son, Ricky, his brother and twin nieces.
According to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, the pilot and co-pilot radioed that the plane had no brakes upon landing in Key West. Horton said the plane ran off the runway, and then 100 feet beyond a 600-foot safety area that was finished in May.
“If we hadn’t done that, it likely would have been a different story,” Horton said of the safety area that is meant as a runway overrun space.
The National Transportation and Safety Board will investigate the cause of the crash.
NASCAR Driver Steve Wallace Gets His Hair Pulled
NASCAR driver Steve Wallace found out that there is hair pulling in the sport when Jerry Baxter, crew chief of rival driver Patrick Carpentier, grabbed his at the Napa Auto Parts 200 in Montreal.
“Only girls pull hair,” Wallace said after the race.
Crazy NASCAR Finish
The NASCAR U.S. Cellular 250 had a crazy finish over the weekend at Iowa Speedway when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. appeared headed for an easy win until his car spun out and smoke billowed out from his car. That gave Carl Edwards an opening but instead pushed Stenhouse over the finish line.
NASCAR Prayer
Pastor Joe Nelms of Nashville’s Family Baptist Church gave the pre-race prayer at the NASCAR Nationwide Federated Auto Parts 300 over the weekend which sounded more like Talladega Nights.
Boogity Boogity Boogity
