"THIS IS BETTY JACK DEVINE, AND I APPROVED THIS MESSAGE:"
Welcome, gay NASCAR fans! Congratulations to the DeVine 91/2's darling Jeff Gordon, whose Infinion 350 victory Sunday was the 3rd of his season and the 67th of his Cup career. With now eight wins at road race courses, Jeff is the unchallenged Cup master of road tracks. I don't care for road races, I'm afraid, although it's pretty to look at the countryside during them. I should be more open-minded, I suppose, like sunny, wonderful Jamie McMurray. FOX reported this week that Jamie had "fallen in love" with the twisty track in Sonoma -- and his terrific 2nd place finish was his reward!
This week in the points, Jimmie Johnson added 20 to his lead over Jr. We've got eight guys in the top 10, with Jamie in 11th! Jr., Matt, Tony, Kurt, Ryan and Kevin held onto their positions from last week; Elliot and Mark picked up one; Jeff and Jamie climbed two; Kasey lost one; and the hard charger of the week was Mikey, whose 4th place finish -- his 4th top five in the last 10 races -- moved him up four spots. Go Mikey! (What was that about firing Mikey, DEI?)
The prayer on Sunday was offered by a lady who was unidentified on TV. She prayed a nice prayer, but Dixie thought she was shilling in her praying when she inserted a bit about safely enjoying "the excitement that IS racing."
Sunday's national anthem made me realize -- too late! -- that I should have been taping the national anthems all year long. Can you imagine watching all 37 national anthems back to back? This week, the Grateful Dead's Bob Weir and Warren Hayes of Gov't Mule gave us an anthem that was as convoluted and turned around as the track! Striking a harmony that was beyond odd, the two built to a perfect climax with the roaring war jets, the only bad part being that their arrival obscured the impossibly strange final notes!
At the start, Jeff was on the pole. Kurt Bush got to lead for one second, then Jeff took over, leading the most laps and winning. Along the way, a lot of fellows spun out, or got turned around. In general, these did not draw the caution, which was a relief after recent races.
Tony spun out himself and Ward Burton in lap 3, bringing criticism from Darryl Waltrip, which we will probably hear from Tony about, since there has been that fighty thing between those two. Defending champion Robby Gordon had a nightmare of a day, losing a wheel, then having the shredded metal wheel dropped on the air-wrench hose by the crew, then cutting another tire and having other misadventures. During one caution, Grand Marshals Dick and Tommy Smothers entertained us from the broadcast booth. In a funny bit, Tommy attempted a tortured understanding of the current yellow-flag scoring insanity, then defended his explanation as "fair and balanced"! Back under green, the announcers reported that Brian Vickers had been training on a road track down in Kershaw, SC. Y'all, that is my Dixie's old home town, y'all!
When he won, California native Jeff got the rousing ovation he is denied when he wins in the South. His condition after the race -- he seemed weak beyond exhaustion, even in his cute "Refuse to Lose" T-shirt -- was proof how tough he and all these guys have to be to race. Making something hard look "easy" is the mark of excellence in performance: Think Fred Astaire.
TONY ON THE CARPET... AISLE
The Bad Boy of Home Depot got in trouble again Sunday. Tony, who had already knocked Brian Vickers out of the race, came up to Brian's car after the event and hit Brian through the car window, media reports say. It "knocked the breath out of me," Brian said. Both guys got called to the trailer; NASCAR was considering its punishment options as of Tuesday.
ALL ABOUT THE REV. MARCHMAN!
Gay NASCAR fans, I was so thrilled to read this week a wonderful profile of the Rev. Hal Marchman, whose invocations at Daytona International Speedway are legendary. The Rev. Marchman, 85, always prays a very sweet prayer, and ends with "Shalom and amen!" (For a Baptist, that's about radical, y'all!) Did you know that:
Though he retired from Central Baptist Church of Daytona Beach in 1987 and no longer drives a car, the Rev. Marchman still does weddings and funerals, and he visits sick folks on his adult tricycle.
The Rev. Marchman and Mary, his wife of 63 years, met in Covington, Ga., and eloped to Alabama!
The Rev. Marchman is a recovering alcoholic who co-founded the Stewart-Marchman Foundation, which helps addicted persons all over the Daytona Beach area.
At DIS, the Marchmans always sit in the France family suite! Sweet!
When his handler takes him from the Frances' suite to the podium to say his prayer, the Rev. Marchman can hardly get through the crush of well-wishers!
The Rev. Marchman sounds like a kindly and honorable gentleman. The good Lord willing, he will give another prayer this Saturday night at DIS, where he hasn't missed a NASCAR race in more than 40 years. We enjoyed that good article, Daytona Beach News-Journal.
FAHRENHEIT PHENOM!
I spent Sunday afternoon at Atlanta's Gay Pride parade and the lovely Midtown homes of famous hair artist Brad Murphy and playboys-about-town Robert Tussey and Eric Hunsucker. When Dixie and I watched our race tape on Monday, we had to replay over and over again the amazing part where the announcer said that Dale Jr. had advised his pit crew to go see "Fahrenheit 9/11" -- that, no matter what their politics, it would be "a good bonding experience" for them. Well, can you imagine! This was especially reassuring after Jr.'s recent description of himself as a Republican in FOX's "10 Laps With..." question segment. Kevin went The 10 on Sunday, and said he is a Republican -- but from the way he spat the word out, I suspect he was under duress. Remember, this is FOX -- "fair and balanced" my ass!
I'm happy to report that I was one of the hundreds who snapped up every ticket in Atlanta to "9/11" on Friday. Everyone needs to see this movie -- if you are a Democrat, it will show you what we are up against, and why we cannot let these bastards steal another election, or start any more wars. And if you are a Republican, well, you got some "splaining to do, Lucy," and we require that your explanation go beyond "Michael Moore is big, fat slob."
The charges in this movie are shattering, and they are laid out in meticulous detail. From the stolen election to the money-grabs of Enron and Haliburton to the current horrowshow in Iraq, Moore puts it together. This is a movie that will change lives and history -- yeah, it's preaching to the choir, but the choir is louder, prouder and more UNITED every day. I've never been prouder to be a Democrat, and I know millions of people feel the same! At last weekend's Pride celebration, it looked like every 4th or 5th person was sporting a Kerry sticker. GO DEMOCRATS! BEAT BUSH!
That's it for this week, y'all. What's better than Saturday night? How about Saturday night at the track in Daytona Beach! I'll see y'all for the Pepsi 400. Let's all meet up down at the Track Bar!
Love,
Betty Jack DeVine
E ME at Bettyjack@bellsouth.net
