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The racEnews: UPDATE
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Back in January, I informed you about a new service called racEnews, 
 which features both weekly and daily e-mail newsletters focused on 
 automotive racing.

On May 1st, March Performance Group announced a new service called the 
 "THE STOCKCAR:weekly" which begins publication today, May 6th.  The 
 newspaper, which is distributed through e-mail, will focus on NASCAR 
 and Stock Car news stories, with sections devoted to Winston Cup, 
 Busch Grand National, the Craftsman Truck Series, as well a Misc. category.

To get a free subscription, send e-mail to marchpg@mindspring.com with 
 the subject/title of "FREE SUBSCRIPTION THE STOCKCAR:weekly", and be 
 sure to include your name and e-mail address in the body of the 
 message, or point your web browser to 
 http://www.mindspring.com/~marchpg for more information.

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Elliott released from hospital
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As you probably know by now, Bill Elliott was involved in a horrific 
 crash at the Winston Select 500 at Talladega.  He was taken out of the 
 car and brought to the medical center at the track, where they feared 
 he had broken or dislocated his hip. Later, it was discovered that he 
 had broken his femur.  

For a short video clip of the crash, turn your web browser to the 
 NASCAR Online Theater located at:  http://www.nascar.com/Theater/index.html.

Since then, he underwent an operation to repair the four-part fracture 
 of the thigh bone, which required several metal pins and plates to 
 accomplish the task.  Elliott was released yesterday (Sunday, May 5) 
 from the HEALTHSOUTH Medical Center to his home in Blairsville, 
 Georgia, just outside of the town of Dawsonville.  According to posted 
 news reports, Elliott will continue a daily routine of physical 
 therapy and recuperation, and will have to make return visits every 
 two weeks to HEALTHSOUTH under the care of Dr. James Andrews and Dr. 
 Richard Sanders. 
                     
Elliott is expected to be out of the driver's seat for an indefinite 
 period of time.  Tommy Kendall, a renowned road course specialist, 
 drove the #94 McDonald's Ford in the Save Mart Supermarkets 300 at 
 Sears Point Raceway to a 28th place finish.

It has been reported that the legendary Harry Gant will come out of 
 Winston Cup "retirement" to help out with driving the #94 McDonald's 
 Ford Thunderbird at the non-points Winston Select race later this 
 month in Charlotte.  No full-time replacement for Elliott has been 
 announced yet.

Harry Gant also plans to compete in a few NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series 
 races this year, with his  first truck race scheduled for June 22 at 
 Bristol Raceway.

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Ricky Craven drives at Sear Point
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Ricky Craven was bruised and sore from his high-flying, barrel-rolling 
 crash at Talladega last week, but he still managed to drive his #41 
 Skoal Chevy for the first few laps of the very demanding Sears Point 
 Road Course.  

After last week's crash, Craven declared "I'm not going to get hurt in 
 a race car"  and promised that he would make an attempt to atleast 
 start the race in the car.  Even with  bruised lungs, a fractured 
 vertebra and a black eye, Craven managed to muscle the car around the 
 track for a couple laps.

Dale Earnhardt was tapped to help Ricky Craven and crew dial the car in 
 and to qualify the car for the race.  Ron Hornaday, Jr was tapped to 
 drive the car during the race. Hornaday drives Dale & Theresa 
 Earnhardt's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series entry.

Craven said he is willing to donate the car to a museum, so that people 
 can see the results of the crash and the protection that the roll cage 
 provides for the drivers.  Any takers?

Ricky Craven, the 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie-of-the-Year, was 
 recently named as the first-quarter nomination for the NASCAR True 
 Value Man of the Year Award.  True Value, the Official Hardware Store 
 of NASCAR, is sponsoring the NASCAR True Value Man of the Year to be 
 based on a combination of on-track
performance and off-track involvement such as community service and charitable
efforts.

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NASCAR drivers were flying high
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Two NASCAR Winston Cup drivers, Kenny and Michael Wallace, took the 
 controls of a F18 Hornet jet, when they made a special appearance with 
 the Navy Blue Angels, at the Pennsacola Naval Air Base.  Kenny pulled 
 7.0 g's in a minimum radius turn and said "Okay, that's enough."  
 Later, Michael was quoted as saying" It feels like my heads gonna blow 
 off" when his jet pulled a negative 1.5 g's when the pilot pulled an 
 upside down manuever.  At one point in their respective flights, the 
 Wallace's were given control of the plane and allowed to fly it for a 
 short period of time.  The Navy pilots were taunting the Wallaces with 
 "they're gonna bag it" statements prior to their flight, which meant 
 that they would need to use the vomit bags on board the plane.  
 However, neither one had to use the bag, and everyone attributed it to 
 their race car driving ability where some g-forces are felt.

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Petty celebrates 25 years with STP
-------------------------------------------
Richard Petty is celebrating his 25th anniversary with STP by painting 
 the car with five memorable paint schemes from the past.  This 
 weekend's race at Sears Point, and the upcoming race at Watkins Glen, 
 the #43 Pontiac will carry the unique Petty Blue Paint with the STP 
 stickers on it.

Richard Petty's first  appearance in an all blue STP car occurred on 
 the opening race of the 1972 NASCAR Winston Cup season at Riverside, 
 California.  Richard and STP President, Andy Granatelli, had just 
 completed the sponsorship contract, leaving no time to change the 
 paint scheme on the car.  So the crew simply added the STP logo decals 
 to the already Petty Blue car.

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NASCAR Statistics are ONLINE
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Would you like to know who's led the most laps in Winston Cup this 
 year?  How about who's won the most bonus money?  Or maybe which make 
 (Chevy, Ford or Pontiac) has led the most laps?  Well, here is a web 
 site with just the answer to your question.  Check out this URL: 
 http://users.aol.com/BrianD37/page3.htm.  The page is updated just 
 after every race, so check back often.

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Kyle Petty Rides Again
-------------------------------------------
Once again this year, Kyle Petty, along with several other NASCAR 
 drivers and enthusiasts, will leave the Sears Point race and ride 
 their motorcycles from Sacremento, California to Charlotte, North 
 Carolina.  There are some 70 full time cyclists signed up for the 
 ride, including Winston Cup regulars Michael Waltrip and Geoff Bodine, 
 along with some 500 part time riders along the way.

The 3000-mile charity ride will benefit the Winston Cup Racing Wives 
 Auxiliary and the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and starts Monday, May 6th 
 in Sacramento and makes overnight stops in Las Vegas, Phoenix, Santa 
 Rosa, N.M., Russellville, Ark., Nashville and Atlanta, before 
 concluding at Paramount's Carowinds amusement part in Charlotte, N.C.

This is the second year that Kyle Petty has ridden his Harley Davidson 
 on the journey to raise money for charity.  Last year, the Coor Light 
 Kyle Petty Charity Ride raised in excess of the $350,000.  This year, 
 they are hoping to nearly double that amount.

A special web site is supposed to have been set up to feature ride 
 details, route information, schedules, and concerts along the way.  
 You can visit the Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America web site at this URL:
	http://www.charity-ride.com/
(Please Note:  I have not yet been able to connect with this web site.  
 I've even called the toll-free number and used a few search engines 
 with no luck.)

Those wishing to receive more information on the 1996 Kyle Petty 
 Charity Ride Across America with regard to participation or 
 sponsorship should write to: 

     Charity Rides Inc. 
     P.O. Box 5000, No. 252 
     Mooresville, NC 28115. 

Donations are also being accepted on a toll-free number:
	1-888-270-RIDE  (1-888-270-7433)
(Note: They will answer the phone as "Customer Service.")

Another service called RaceWeb Information Superspeedway has some 
 information about the site.  You can see a copy of the press release 
 at the following URL:
	http://www.io.org/kyle-ride/news4077.html

You can also see an overview of last year's ride at the following URL:
	http://www.io.org/~raceweb/kyle-ride/Overview.html

-------------------------------------------
Happy Motoring :-)
=Ken=

Email: 	Ken_Corpus@wb.xerox.com or 76734.1003@compuserve.com
CyberHome:	http://www.geocities.com/motorcity/1105/
CyberGarage:	http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/mustangken/

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