ImPRESSions©
The Official Newsletter Of The American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association
February 2009 Vol. 42 No. 2
Page 5 - Photos from the 2009 All-America Team dinner presented by
AARWBA Member Media Contests Sponsored by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway & IndyCar Series Exclusively for members of the American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association Details on page 4
In This Issue:
AARWBA President Dusty Brandel honors - Titus To Schumacher Page 2 Tony Schumacher with the Jerry Titus Award. - Member Media Contests Page 4 Schumacher, who edged out NASCAR Sprint Cup - All-America Dinner Photos Page 5 - Have You Been To Indy? Page 9 champion Jimmie Johnson by a single vote, is a - Featured Artist Page 9 two-time winner and a six-time AARWBA - News & Notes Page 10 Horsepower Trophy honoree. - My Interesting Day Page 11 (Ron Lewis Photo) - AA Team Election Results Page 12
American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association, Inc. (www.aarwba.org) “Dedicated To Increasing Media Coverage Of Motor Sports” AARWBA Titus Trophy to Schumacher NHRA Top Fuel Champ Tops All-America Team, Wins by 1 Over Johnson Ceremony Presented by A1GP World Cup of Motorsport Tony Schumacher, whose fifth consecutive champi- onship capped a record-setting NHRA drag racing season, became a two-time Jerry Titus Memorial Tro-
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World Cup of Motorsport. 8
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In the closest margin in more than a quarter-century, 1
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Schumacher edged NASCAR Sprint Cup titlist Jim-
3 mie Johnson by one vote. Shirley Muldowney re- 0
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ceived one vote more than Bobby Allison in 1982. -
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The Titus Trophy is awarded to the driver who re- 5
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AARWBA members annually elect drivers to the e
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Team from seven categories: Stock car, open-wheel, In accepting AARWBA's Jerry Titus Award for the second time e
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completed his sweep of the 2008 driver of the year awards. s and at-large. s Schumacher persevered through 10 inches of snow in Chicago a
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Schumacher dominated the Top Fuel class. He fin- and a cross-country trip with a tight connection in h
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ished with 15 wins out of 18 final-round appearances San Francisco to be on hand at the o
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11 straight final rounds and had 31 consecutive 2
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(Ron Lewis Photo) round wins. All are records. His 76 round wins tied n
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Greg Anderson’s single-season mark. Along the way, a
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Schumacher surpassed Joe Amato’s all-time Top Fuel wins record and ended the 2008 season with a career o
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s “It’s a thrill to be named the Jerry Titus Trophy winner,” said Schumacher, who also won the award in 2006. r
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“Given the history-making season the U.S. Army team had in 2008, I wish this trophy could be split up in a lot of s
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safely say I was part of the greatest Top Fuel team that’s ever been assembled in NHRA history. o
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“I’m also happy that I could bring home another Titus award to the NHRA world. With so many talented drivers &
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drag racing is getting its fair share of attention.” r
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American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association, Inc. (www.aarwba.org) “Dedicated To Increasing Media Coverage Of Motor Sports” 2 All-America Team Awards Dinner Continued
gious awards and this was the first time it was presented to someone in the media. McClelland was the evening’s Master of Ceremonies. Jim Chapman Award: Judy Stropus received the honor for excellence in motorsports public relations. It is named in memory of Chapman, the late legendary PR executive,
who was Babe Ruth’s PR rep and director of racing for 5
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CART series sponsor PPG Industries. Stropus, repre- 0
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senting Don Schumacher Racing, was chosen by a blue- 2
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ribbon committee of journalists, all of whom knew Chap-
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President Mike Harris, both close friends of Chapman. 3
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Appreciation Awards: Dusty Brandel recognized Ford, -
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ceremony. A
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Gorsline Scholarship: The 16th annual scholarship, given k
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by John Gorsline of The Gorsline Co., went to Star Maz- a
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da series runner-up Joel Miller. The prize is awarded to u
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an up-and-coming driver who displays the attributes of a e
National Hot Rod Association President Tom u
future champion. Four-time SCCA Trans-Am champion n
Compton (left) admires Tony Schumacher's award. e and 1997 Titus winner Tommy Kendall made the presen- v
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NHRA scored several honors at the Jan. 10
tation. s banquet. Event Master of Ceremonies s
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Dave McClelland received the Pioneer in Racing The ceremony in the Ontario Hilton ballroom included
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Award, and Don Schumacher Racing audio-visual tributes in memory of Paul Newman, Phil r
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public-relations representative Judy Stropus Hill, Scott Kalitta, Porsche publicist and Chapman Award N
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was the Jim Chapman Award recipient. winner Bob Carlson and longtime AARWBA vice presi- 2
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dent and online racing journalism pioneer Michael F. Hol- n
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lander. Several speakers participated in the Shav Glick t
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Newsmakers Forum. ESPN, MAZDASPEED and c
Other Team drivers to earn Horsepower Trophies o
Valvoline co-hosted the pre-dinner reception. Guests s were Cruz Pedregon (drag racing); Johnson and s
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Carl Edwards (stock car); Scott Dixon and Helio s
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e Castroneves (open wheel); Scott Pruett/Memo Ro- Earlier in the day, AARWBA members toured the shop of t
s jas and David Brabham/Scott Sharp (road racing); a 14-time Funny Car champion John Force and participat- c
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Johnny Benson and Justin Allgaier (touring series); ed in media drag racing on the legendary Pomona quar- a
o Jerry Coons Jr. and Donny Schatz (short track); r
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Jorg Bergmeister/Wolf Henzler and Raphael Matos &
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A1GP open-wheel series’ unique format matches R
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Several special presentations honored racers, me-
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Pioneer In Racing Award: Dave McClelland, the
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legendary NHRA announcer and broadcaster, was n
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American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association, Inc. (www.aarwba.org) “Dedicated To Increasing Media Coverage Of Motor Sports” 3 AARWBA Member Media Contests Sponsored by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway & IndyCar Series
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Exclusively for members of the American Auto Racing Writers n
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& Broadcasters Association
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Entries Accepted In Five Different Media Categories r
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Radio / TV Photography n
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1st place $300 / 2nd place $150 / 3rd place $75. c
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Complete contest rules can be found on the AARWBA website
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Contest Entry Deadline: c
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FEBRUARY 15, 2009 u
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Jerry Miller at [email protected] or 317-736-7472 e
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American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association, Inc. (www.aarwba.org) “Dedicated To Increasing Media Coverage Of Motor Sports” 4 39th Annual All-America Team Dinner Photos
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Member Peter Bryant shows off his award that he n
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Mike Knight with Judy Stropus, the won for his book, "Can-Am Challenger" r
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NHRA Top Fuel Funny Car driver Jack Beckman, who c
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Don Schumacher Racing.( Photo by John McDonald)
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Eastern V.P. Lewis Franck, crouches so Western V.P. h
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s Sports President/Publisher Corrine Economaki just t
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American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association, Inc. (www.aarwba.org) “Dedicated To Increasing Media Coverage Of Motor Sports” 5 39th Annual All-America Team Dinner & Drag Race Photos
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and Funny Car speed-record-holder Jack Beckman
(far right) show off their best students from the A
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NHRA-sponsored "AARWBA Nationals" media k
Jack Beckman (left), who has instructed hundreds of n race Jan. 10 at the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. a rookie racers on this track at Pomona, California, as a b
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Displaying their plaques (left to right) are u
teacher with Frank Hawley's NHRA Driving School, had B Jan Wagner, winner Ron "Danger" Lewis, and another crop of green peas Saturday, Jan. 10, as e
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Harold Osmer. Wagner had the best reaction time n
AARWBA members found out how to tame the quick and e
at the starting line, and Osmer had low elapsed v
fast new 2009 Pontiac G8 GXPs. Beckman, an NHRA A
time in the drag race. (Photo by Anne Proffitt) s
Funny Car driver for Don Schumacher Racing, later that s
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evening led the Pledge of Allegiance at the All-America P
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Team Dinner and Ceremony sponsored by A1GP r
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AARWBA member Paul Glessner (left), president c
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of Lancaster, California, compares racing notes A
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Economaki shares the newspaper's plans for celebrating ©
Earlier in the day, Glessner took his chances in a s its 75th anniversary all year long. She also updated the t
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Sportsman-level Pontiac on the same Auto Club e
audience about 88-year-old father Chris: "He's still t Raceway at Pomona dragstrip where Schumacher n traveling a little bit. . . . We're going to get him to one of o
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recently won his sixth series title.
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the dirt miles this year, which I know he'll just love." l (Photo by Ron Lewis) (Photo by Ron Lewis) A American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association, Inc. (www.aarwba.org) “Dedicated To Increasing Media Coverage Of Motor Sports” 6 39th Annual All-America Team Dinner Photos
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The evening's honorees gather for a group picture following the All-America Team Dinner 2
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award), and Joel Miller. (Ron Lewis Photo) o
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Eastern V.P. Lewis Franck (left) with e
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Johnny Benson, the 2008 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series T Linda McCoy Murray (widow of famed
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champion and AARWBA All-America First Team selection,
sports writer Jim Murray) and s shares his excitement for the upcoming season. Benson took a t
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Southern V.P. Mike Harris. e
turn at drag racing earlier in the day, after he and about 40 t
n (Photo: Anne Proffit) others got an inspirational "pep talk" from 14-time Funny Car o
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champion John Force at breakfast. l
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(Ron Lewis Photo) A American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association, Inc. (www.aarwba.org) “Dedicated To Increasing Media Coverage Of Motor Sports” 7 More Photos
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"Pioneer in Racing" award to MC Dave McClelland. r
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events, was totally surprised with the award. e
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Andy Schupack (Porsche P.R. ) and o
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Nancy Schilke (Motorsport.com) 2
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American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association, Inc. (www.aarwba.org) “Dedicated To Increasing Media Coverage Of Motor Sports” 8 Artists! Express Yourselves! Are you an artist? Do you like to draw, sketch, or paint illustrations of cars and the people who race them? Then why not showcase some of your work in the pages of this newsletter?
All artists are invited to submit a drawing you are 5
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Are you proud of what you can do with a pen or 1
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pencil or brush? Prove it by letting us share
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your work with the other members of AARWBA. 0
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2 Photo Courtesy Indianapolis Motor Speedway -
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Submit scans of your work to the editor at: 0
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Have You Been To Indy?
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If you have attended the Indy 500, please send us a ,
k note telling us how many times, when you first went n
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memorable year at the Brickyard. B
(A paragraph or two is all we need.) e
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Send your memories to: e
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Dusty Brandel -
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1957 High School Graduation Gift 9
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Dave “Doc” Gibson i
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Already hooked on auto racing by attending o s
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Midget races at the famed Olympic Stadium in A
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Kansas City, Missouri, and after all the years "Sharp Wins At Kentucky" r
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listening to the “500” on radio, I was very s
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excited to attend the 1957 “500” and stand by Featured Artist: Christy Bombatch c
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Christy Bombatch is the wife of AARWBA member and Cox a
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SW Ohio Group of Newspapers motorsports columnist and B
sportswriter John Bombatch. She is an accomplished artist & When we arrived the day before, my brother
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and has done oil paintings for Danica Patrick and Adrian r
was having a hard time finding a parking e
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Fernandez. r place. He spotted a Post Office close by
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(wherever that was) knowing they would be g
Above is a painting of Scott Sharp's win at Kentucky Speed- n
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closed Memorial Day. We pulled in there way. She presented the original painting to Sharp the follow- c
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(smart thinking). R
ing year. She is working on an oil painting for WNBA Phoenix
o Mercury guard Jen Derevjanik, and she just finished a series t
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of paintings - one of which was presented to fitness trainer A What I remember most is that it seemed they
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had Midget races across from the speedway Jillian Michaels - for several cast members of the TV show a
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i almost all night before the “500”. Another "Biggest Loser." r
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lasting impression at that 1st “500” was all the m
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Her son is a devoted Danica Patrick fan, so a couple of years
cars lined up and the wild partying, waiting for e
ago Christy carved a photo of Patrick into our pumpkin! h
the gates to open. T
© If you're interested in having Christy do a painting for you or
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Beginning in 1976 I have attended many times your team, feel free to contact Christy at: [email protected] n
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as a photographer and have many fond mem- n
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American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association, Inc. (www.aarwba.org) “Dedicated To Increasing Media Coverage Of Motor Sports” 9 News & Notes Judy Stropus Thanks AARWBA For Downsizing Impacts Two AARWBA Members Chapman Award Recently, two corporate friends of AARWBA lost their Judy sent us this note recently: jobs due to company downsizing. “I had the greatest honor of receiving the Jim In December, Karen Holschlag left the Anheuser-Busch Chapman Award for Excellence in Motorsports sports marketing department after 26 years. She man-
aged Budweiser's sponsorship of Kenny Bernstein's 5
Public Relations at the recent AARWBA awards 0
team. In January, Barry Bronson left Valvoline when his 0 dinner in Ontario, Calif. 7
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“Receiving this award meant a lot to me, especially We thank Karen and Barry and wish them well. )
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“Although I thanked nearly everyone who was in- -
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“Thank you Michael Knight for all your efforts in r
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making sure the motorsports p.r. profession is duly
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n meanor for so many years. Your belief in the value e
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s profession in the forefront. While we are so often s
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and sponsors are made aware of the importance of
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bers of the media have on many occasions named s
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Chapman award in memory of your friend and for a
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Warmest regards, Judy Stropus n
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A Note To Dusty About AARWBA R
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Dusty, u
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I used to belong to EMPA, I used to belong to n
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NMPA, and I will always belong to AARWBA. The i
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J.J. O'Malley, Manager of Communications for the A ism of AARWBA has always been an order of
e magnitude higher than the others and the commen- Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, proudly h
T surate service to the members. And the tone you announces the star-studded lineups for the
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season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona and s set for the other officers, the volunteers, and the t
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- Rich Romer the leading team's plans for 2009. o
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American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association, Inc. (www.aarwba.org) “Dedicated To Increasing Media Coverage Of Motor Sports” 10 My Interesting Day with the AARWBA By Jan Wagner - www.AutoMatters.net
Recently I drove to Las Vegas to cover the annual Con- sumer Electronics Show (CES). Scheduled for later that week, in California, was our AARWBA visit with John Force, NHRA Media Challenge and AARWBA awards banquet. In order to attend everything, I planned to cut short my attendance at CES by two days. I reserved a
room at the Ontario Airport Hilton for Friday and Satur- 5
0 day nights. My carefully thought-out plan depended on 0
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my leaving Las Vegas late Friday afternoon, after 2
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spending that day at CES. As you will see, things did not 8
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Per Murphy’s Law, in Las Vegas I learned that the annu-
3 al Monster dealer awards were scheduled for my 0
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was a big disappointment for me because musical su- 0
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perstars always provide the entertainment for that must- 1
9 see event. Two years ago, using a Press Photo creden- Jan Wagner proudly displays his award. Photo by Ann Proffit A tial, I covered George Benson and Al Jarreau in concert C
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(see: http://www.automatters.net/2007%20Columns/0223.htm). Luckily a room (albeit on the tenth floor) was available for early k th n This year, in celebration of Monster’s 30 anniversary, check-in. In two trips in an elevator that seemed to take forever a
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the entertainer would be the incomparable Diana Ross – to arrive and then stop on almost each and every floor along u
B one of my all-time favorites. I could not bear to miss this the way, I completely transferred the contents of my car. That
e opportunity so, in order to see her concert late on Friday left me with just enough time to shave – but I couldn’t remem- u
n night, I decided to forego a good night’s sleep in order to ber where I’d moved my shaver to. All I could find was its empty e
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drive to Ontario immediately afterwards, in time to make case. I left looking like a zombie.
s the 7:45 AM bus departure for John Force’s facility. s
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It was all worth it, as I thoroughly enjoyed my day with the AAR- P
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Under my revised plan there still should have been WBA. John Force was as entertaining and insightful as ever. t
r enough time to take a decent nap in my car. I even It’s amazing how he successfully pulls off discussing so many o
N moved my electric shaver from its case and put it some- topics at one time. He is truly a one-of-a-kind, special charac-
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where handy, so that I could shave before boarding the ter. Perhaps, when he retires from racing, he will consider en- 9
bus. tertaining us with a weekly TV show – on cable, of course, n
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Once again I got a Press Photo pass for the concert but c
o then things took a turn for the worse. The concert was Since I had not eaten since dinner the night before, I was grate- s
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delayed and it ended after midnight. My photos of Diana ful to him for providing us with a healthy, hearty breakfast, and
s Ross, taken from directly in front of center stage, came to the people at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona for lunch, fea- r
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t at a hefty price. turing grilled-to-order IN-N-OUT hamburgers. s
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So much for sufficient nap time during my drive. By the In the NHRA Media Challenge, we drag raced against each a
o time I had picked up my luggage from storage and hit other in the powerful 2009 Pontiac G8. What a rush! Our in- r
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the road, it was after 2 AM. To make matters worse, I structors were patient, friendly and helpful, explaining the vari- &
s had stayed up late gambling the night before and I was ous lights on the “tree,” and the need for leaving the r
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t tired. transmission in automatic and left foot braking. i
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My GPS indicated that the drive to Ontario should take Considering my inexperience at drag racing and my extreme g
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3 ½ hours. In order to get there by 7:45 AM, that only left sleep deprivation, I was utterly surprised when told that I’d c
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me about two hours to catch some badly needed sleep somehow managed to win the award for “Best Reaction Time.” R
o along the way. Despite the risk of sleeping through my t
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watch’s puny alarm, in the interests of safety I pulled AARWBA member “Voodoo” Bob Krueger and his wife Vicky A
over when needed to take short naps. told me that I fell asleep on the bus ride back to our hotel. I’ll n
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Eventually, as the sun rose, I only had a little over an trip sure seemed short! e
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hour left to get to the hotel and transfer my luggage and A
large accumulation of gathered CES materials to a se- My interesting day with the AARWBA day ended with motor- e
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T cure storage area. The sunlight energized me. I arrived sports news announcements, socializing and an awards ban-
© at the hotel by about 7:15 AM. quet ceremony that honored the best people in motorsports.
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American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association, Inc. (www.aarwba.org) “Dedicated To Increasing Media Coverage Of Motor Sports” 11 American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association Rocky Entriken, Chairman • All-America Auto Racing Team / Legends In Racing 2731 Scott • Salina, KS. 67401• Phone 785-827-5143 • Fax 785-823-0213 • [email protected]
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7 2008 AUTO RACING ALL-AMERICA TEAM -
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As selected by the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association
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VOTE TOTALS 3
JERRY TITUS AWARD: 0
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Drag Racing Stock Car 2 Tony Schumacher - -
76 Tony Schumacher 75 Jimmie Johnson 5 NHRA Top Fuel Champion, 15-race winner 53 Cruz Pedregon 67 Carl Edwards 0 5
16 Jeg Coughlin Jr. 24 Kyle Busch 1
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14 Tim Wilkerson 6 Clint Bowyer
7 Spencer Massey ————— A
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5 Greg Anderson 3 Greg Biffle
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FIRST TEAM ————— 3 Brad Keselowski k * 1 Jack Beckman * 1 Kevin Harvick n
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OPEN WHEEL: Scott Dixon, Helio Castroneves * 1 Ashley Force b
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* 1 Leahea Pruitt u
STOCK CAR: Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards B
* 1 Melanie Troxel
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ROAD RACING: Scott Pruett/Memo Rojas, u
Open Wheel Short Track n David Brabham/Scott Sharp 73 Scott Dixon 66 Donny Schatz e
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53 Helio Castroneves 59 Jerry Coons Jr. A DRAG RACING: Tony Schumacher, Cruz Pedregon 18 Ryan Briscoe 25 Tracy Hines s
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SHORT TRACK: Donny Schatz, Jerry Coons Jr. 14 Tony Kanaan 6 Jason Meyers a
11 Danica Patrick 6 Cole Whitt P
TOURING SERIES: Johnny Benson, Justin Allgaier 7 Dan Wheldon 5 Darrell Lanigan h
t ————— ————— r AT LARGE: Raphael Matos, Jörg Bergmeister/Wolf Henzler o
* 1 Fred Rahmer N
* 1 Joey Saldana 2
* 1 Mike Spencer 2
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Touring Series Road Racing o
i 64 Johnny Benson 57 Scott Pruett/Memo Rojas t
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SECOND TEAM 42 Justin Allgaier 27 D. Brabham/S. Sharp c
15 Ted Christropher 21 T. Bernhard/R. Dumas o
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OPEN WHEEL: Ryan Briscoe, Tony Kanaan 13 Benny Gordon 21 Jon Fogarty/Alex Gurney s
A STOCK CAR: Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer 12 Eric Holmes 21 Lucas Luhr/Marco Werner
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8 Matt Kobyluck 19 J. Magnussen/J. O’Connell r
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ROAD RACING: Timo Bernhard/Romain Dumas, ————— ————— t * 1 Ron Hornaday Jr. s
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Jon Fogarty/Alex Gurney, * 1 Scott Speed c
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Lucas Luhr/Marco Werner a At Large o r
DRAG RACING: Jeg Coughlin Jr., Tim Wilkerson 36 Raphael Matos B
31 J. Bergmeister/W. Henzler & SHORT TRACK: Tracy Hines, Jason Meyers, Cole Whitt 30 Travis Pastrana s
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27 Frank Manzo e
TOURING SERIES: Ted Christopher, Benny Gordon t
i AT LARGE: Travis Pastrana, Frank Manzo 20 Laurie Cannister r 14 Rob MacCachren W
————— * = Write-Ins g
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* 3 Ana Beatriz Total Vote: 93 i * 1 Conor Daly c
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* 1 Tanner Foust R
* 1 J.R. Hildebrand o
t (At least 5% of the vote) * 1 Don Knowles u
HONORABLE MENTION A
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OPEN WHEEL: Danica Patrick, Dan Wheldon a
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i STOCK CAR: none r
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ROAD RACING: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O’Connell m
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DRAG RACING: Spencer Massey, Greg Anderson e
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SHORT TRACK: Darrell Lanigan
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TOURING SERIES: Eric Holmes, Mike Kobyluck s
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AT LARGE: Laurie Cannister, Rob MacCachren e
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American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association, Inc. (www.aarwba.org) “Dedicated To Increasing Media Coverage Of Motor Sports” 12