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HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
msm
2006 Nextel Cup
Top Owners
| I Green Flag
m News and Notes
Earnhardt Jr.’s stepmom
challenges commitment
The relationship between Teresa
Earnhardt and her stepson. Dale
Earnhardt Jr., continued its slow burn
this week.
The widow of Dale Earnhardt told
the Wall Street Journal her stepson
needs to concentrate more on his career
with the family-owned team.
“Right now the ball's in his court to
decide on whether he wants to be a
NASCAR driver or whether he wants to
be a public personality.” she said.
It was another salvo in a relationship
that’s deteriorated since the team
founder died in a crash on the final lap of
the 2001 Daytona 500.
Tiie driver already has worked
through a lengthy contract extension
with both sides working hard to gain an
advantage over the other. Teresa
Earnhardt owns Dale Earnhardt Inc.,
but her stepson clearly is the foundation
of the entire ojieration - and the most
popular driver in the sport.
Earnhardt Jr. has qualified for the
Chase for the Championship twice in the
three-year history of the playoffs.
Missing racing suit
recovered by police
The racing suit and helmet donated
by Dale Earnhardt to the Texas Motor
Speedway was recovered.
The suit was stolen by an employee
of the racetrack, police front Fort Worth
said.
The former seven-time champion
donated the suit to the speedway presi
dent Eddie Gossage, It was in storage
after being on display.
Busch beer to puli
series sponsorship
'file 2007 season will be the last for
Anheuser-Busch’s sponsorship of the
second-tiered series.
Busch has been a sponsor for 25
years. When it leaves after next season,
Wal-Mart, Samsung and Subway may
move into tire title role.
Ganassi: New driver drawing attention
Car owner Chip Ganassi created a stir this
year when he signed former Indianapolis 500
winner and Formula One driver Juan Pablo
Montoya to drive the No. 42 Dodge next year in
NASCAR.
Ganassi talked about the worldwide attention
the deal has received in a question and answer
session with NASCAR.com recently, including a
new crush of interest from Montoya's homeland
of Columbia. Here are excerpts of that interview:
Question: What's been the most eye-open
ing thing you've seen around this Montoya
fever?
Ganassi: Seeing with my own two eyes peo
ple coming to a racetrack in lowa from Colombia.
Certainly, we've seen the [increase in] Web hits
and our Spanish Web site. But boy, for people to
come from Colombia to a track in lowa, that was
surprising. People from Bogota, Colombia. That
blows me away.
Question: Do you have plans to put 2004
Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon in a
stock car?
Ganassi: We often talk about it. Dan knows
that if he ever wants to, the opportunity is there
for him to do it. He's one of the people that has a
keen eye on Montoya to see what happens. I
know Dan has some goals he still wants to
achieve in open-wheel racing. When he accom
plishes those goals, we'll take another look at it.
Question: Montoya said open-wheel drivers
believe NASCAR is easy. Is he changing his
mind?
ERick Hendrick
I •Jimmie Johnson gave him sixth title
I • Put three cars in the Chase
I • Other cars finished 6th. 10th and 15!h
• Nine series wins in 2006
I • Finished with 69 top-lOs, 42 top-5*
jm * Johnson title ended five-year drought
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PHOTO COURTESY OF NASCAR
Former NASCAR champion turned TV analyst Benny Parson (left) shares a laugh with driver Ryan Newman. Parsons was diagnosed with lung cancer in July
but beat the disease thanks to radiation and chemotherapy treatments.
Cancer-free Parson embraces life
By Oon Coble
Morris News Service
Author Allen Carr and former racing
champion Benny Parsons both quit smok
ing more than 2?> years ago; both were diag
nosed with lung cancer during the same
week las! July.
Parsons thinks about that connection all
tiie time. Hr 1 knows Carr was credited for
helping a lot of superstars kick their smok
ing habit with books like. “The Easy Way to
Stop Smoking:” ‘The Only Way to Stop
Smoking;” and “Allen Carr’s Easy Way for
Women to Stop Smoking."
“I read where people like Johnny Cash
stopped smoking because of him,” Parsons
said. “Then he got cancer. 1 was diagnosed
in July; he was diagnosed in July. It’s amaz
ing how things work.”
Carr died three weeks ago. Parsons
now is cancer-free.
That could have been me,” he said. “If
not for the grace of God, that could have
been me*
One of the most-popular figures in stock
car history will celebrate Christmas
attached to an oxygen machine, but it's a lot
better than a tumor. Doctors attacked the
Ganassi: It's a tough question. Juan has been
in three races now. He's learned a tremendous
amount of informa
tion. The learning
curve is steep. If
you call each one
of these races a
step, you could
say, yes, he's
made solid steps.
He's got to make
eight or nine more
solid steps before
he’s where he
needs to be. Did
he make three solid steps? Absolutely. Was I
happy with the steps he made? Absolutely, Does
he have eight more he’s got to make? Absolutely.
So we're not by any stretch of the imagination
there yet. A lot of steps to make.
Question: Did you have the same thoughts
when you expanded from open-wheel cars to
NASCAR?
Ganassi: No. None. I knew it was difficult. I was
racing week-in and week-out with Roger Penske [in
open-wheel] and I knew the effort he put into it and
that it wasn’t exactly a lay-up for him.
Question: What was your first real dose of
reality in NASCAR?
Ganassi: I would say if you look at it like the
sweet spot of a tennis racquet, the sweet spot in
open-wheel racing is four of five inches and there
are a couple of three teams in it. In NASCAR, the
single-cell cancer iti his left lung aggres
sively. giving him massive doses of radia
tion and chemotherapy to keep the disease
contained in the lung. Unlike most lung
cancer victims. Parsons’ disease was diag
nosed early before ,it had a chance to
spread to other organs.
“i had two things working in my favor:
A. i! was only in the lung; B. J was in good
health,” Parsons said. “I know you wouldn’t
believe it, but I was in pretty good shape, i
was working out three days a week at the
(YMCA). 1 was in good shape for a 65-year
old man.”
Parsons got a second scan a couple
weeks ago and it confirmed the first; the
cancer is gone, but at a price. Tiie treat
ment caused severe damage to the lung.
“i may end up being a one-lunger,” he
said, “it’s going to be another six months
before they know for sure. Tiie best we can
hope for is for it to be back at 25-50 percent.
It will never be KM) percent They had to get
the tumor out of there.
“If they said i could beat it but 1 was
going to lose the lung, I would have taken
that deal. It’s better than the cancer, it
would have been 100 percent, it kills.”
NEWSMAKER
Chip Ganassi
SPORTS
Richard Childress
■jj/r’ ill • Put two cars in Chase
||J II • Driver Kevin Harvick won Busch title
m * cu p car * ,in,she(| 4,h 7,h * n(i i7,h
• Six Cup wins in 2006
• Finished with 51 topTOs. 26 top-5s
• Enjoyed best season since 1993
sweet spot is the size of the whole tennis rac
quet. Here's what gets me. in other forms of rac
ing if you have a good car with good engineering
you’re 90 percent of the way there. If you have a
good car and good engineering in NASCAR that's
about 40 percent. You've still got to get Out of the
pit, have some luck. It's just a more complex
group of moying targets.
Question: You’ve won a lot of races in the
IRL and Champ Car Series, but you've only
won five times in the Nextel Cup in six years -
- but none in the last tour seasons. Are the
struggles in NASCAR hard to accept?
Ganassi: No. Not at all. I love the challenge.
The challenge is what it is for me. Sure it's diffi
cult. I've never been one to take the easy street. I
don't look at it that way at all. We’re still in the
building process. A lot of these teams, it took a
long time for them to become championship
material. I'd like to think we're moving forward.
We don't seem to be going backwards like I've
seen a lot of teams do.
Question: Which form of racing do you
favor, open-wheel or NASCAR?
Ganassi: I don't favor either one. Fans look at
racing from year-to-year. But when you're in the
business you can't look at it in a short period of
time. You've got to look at it in five- and 10-year
chunks.
Question: Would you rather win the
Indianapolis 500 or the Daytona 500?
Ganassi: Well, the Daytona 500 since I've
won at Indianapolis a couple of times. I need a
The sport wrapped its arms around the
former Detroit city cab driver, much like it
did in 1973 when he won the Nextel Cup
Series championship. The series winner
back then was the driver who completed
the most laps during the season. Parsons
crashed early in tiie season-finale at
Rockingham, N.C.. and crewmen from
competing teams went to the garage to help
make repairs. His championship proved to
be a collective effort.
Just like his cancer.
Car owner Rick Hendrick, a leukemia
survivor, put Parsons in touch when some
of the best doctors in the country. Teams
made their private jets available to the driv
er-turned-television commentator. Tiie
rush of emotion from the racing communi
ty itself was overwhelming.
“I never thought about the connection
(between the championship and his battle
with cancer," Parsons said. “But there is a
lot of similarity there. The reception I got
last year was unbelievable. When I showed
up for the last race with oxygen, i couldn’t
believe the support 1 got, the passion they
had for me. 1 can’t tell you what that meant
to me.”
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2006 ♦
■ Joe Gibbs
• Driver Denny Hamlin was top rookie
• Driver Tony Stewart won five races
• Cart finished 3rd. 11th end 30th
• Seven Cup wins in 2006
• Finished with 41 top-10*. 23 top-5s
• Hamlin first rookie to make Chase
Parsons was in good hands from the
start. Not only were fans, friends and fellow
racers rushing to his side, the medical com
munity made him a priority as well. Their
aggressive approach turned a possible
death sentence into a second lease on life.
“i was diagnosed on a Thursday and i
met with the doctors on the next Monday,”
he said. They were convinced we were
going to beat it. Ail 1 had to do was fight the
fight and put it in God's hands. 1 was never
scared.”
During the fight. Parsons continued to
work for NBC and TNT, as well as his
Monday night radio show on the
Performance Racing Network. He missed
four races on television and only one week
on the radio. He also continued to make his
dream a reality near ids home in North
Carolina. The first batch of Benny Parsons
Rendezvous Ridge wine is in the barrels.
He hopes for his first bottling in spring.
He lias also signed a new deal to stay
with TNT for its coverage of the Nextel Cup
Series next year.
“This is going to be a good Christmas.”
Parsons said. “It’s definitely going to be
special.”
Daytona.
Question: Is Juan Pablo Montoya the guy
who can win you a Nextel Cup Series champi
onship?
Ganassi: Some day, sure. Obviously, you
don't bring a guy into your team because you
think they're going to lose. We want to win cham
pionships, sure. When I look at who the picks
were out there, across the board, all the drivers
that are available, you’d have to be foolish if you
passed on Juan Pablo.
Question: Do you see anyone else jumping
from to NASCAR?
Ganassi: I don't want to tell anybody. When
the other owners start giving me driver picks, I'll
start giving them driver picks.
Question: You used to be a minority owner
of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Do you miss base
ball?
Ganassi: I used to go to baseball games with
my father. I really got involved in the ownership at
a time when the team was thinking about leaving
the community. I feel being involved in your com
munity is important. It was a good fit.
Question: Felix Sabates is a minority owner
of your racing team. What is it like to work
with somebody like that?
Ganassi: He is the best, the best. The sad
thing to me is not a lot of people know Felix
Sabates like I know him. He's a gem of a guy.
He’s in front of it as much as he wants to be. He's
not in the back by any stretch.
compiled by Don Coble
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