Carl Edwards interviews regarding Talladega Crash

On Sunday, we posted the article Shades of Ricky Bobby, after Aarons 499 at Talladega which ended with quite a scare for Carl Edwards and the NASCAR Nation. I have seen plenty of wrecks but this one immediately brought tears to my eyes.

Carl has been on a media circus tour over the past 24 hours. Last night, he appeared on Larry King Live and today he was on The Ellen Show. I have collected clips of Carl's interviews and will be adding any future ones to this post. Note, in both interviews, he mentioned he is quite the Will Ferrell fan which was his inspiration for running across the finish line. I am so happy Carl is alright and am impressed over and over again with his interview skills.

NASCAR Drivers in Television take II

As we mentioned here, it seems like NASCAR drivers are making more appearances on prime time and daytime television. Jeff Burton appeared on General Hospital this Wednesday and you can view a clip of it here
The drunk guy is talking about going to Atlanta Motor Speedway to work. Wouldn't it have made more sense to run this episode prior to the Atlanta race? Just saying...

A few drivers have lined up TV appearances since our original NASCAR drivers in Television blog.

Clint Bowyer will make a guest appearance on The Biggest Loser this Tuesday, March 24th (NBC)
Michael Waltrip will appear on My Name is Earl on April 30th (NBC)
Brian Vickers dined at Hells Kitchen as we mentioned here but we can't locate the airing date (FOX)

What show would you like to see your favorite driver appear on and why?

If dating Dale Jr is the best thing you can put on your resume....mazel tov!!

Dale Jr's ex to compete in America's Next Top Model newest season.

photo courtesy of ciastockphoto.com

No, no it isn't me; Kortnie Coles a 24 year old "non profit" organizer from Houston TX will be one of the contestants on the America's Next Top Model. This "Cycle 12" premires tonight on the CW network. True Dale Jr fans may remember her as one of the 17,000 supermodels that he has dated in the past. Its frightening when you google both their names the angst and uproar that is out there still over this pairing. Good luck to her and all the contestants on tonights show, sigh.

Nascar Cribs

Early this year, CMT kicked off a new season of Cribs with a NASCAR edition. It featured Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch. Of the three, I like Kevin and Delana's house the best. On CMTs website, they have an extra footage video up, which I posted below. I learned from this footage that Kevin loves Goldschlager (ew!) and Denny has 2 roommates.

NASCAR Cribs must have been a hit. I read this morning that Martin Truex Jr will be filming a segment on Tuesday, March 3rd!!!

"I really enjoyed having the CMT people here," Truex said. "I've always been a big fan of Cribs, so to have my place featured on the show is really cool."

My question for you is if you could see any drivers home, which would it be? My personal request would be Jimmie and Chandra Johnson. My reason? To see Chandra's closet.

Brian Vickers to dine at Hell's Kitchen tonight!!

One of our favorite things about the Auto Club Race is the intermingling of NASCAR and Hollywood. We promised that we will do our best to report on any sitings that deem worthy. LA Times reports that Brian Vickers will be a diner tonight on Hell's Kitchen set. To give you an idea of what Brian is getting himself into, this blog describes the experience that they had. If you have ever watched this show on Fox, its debatable which is easier: being in the presence of Chef Ramsey or going up against June Bug in Daytona.

photo courtesy of MSNBC

If you are in the LA area, make sure to take a look at the Driver appearances happening throughout the week. If you know of any that we are missing, please send us an email and we will add them to the site.

Thursday, February 19th
Matt Kenseth, Daytona 500 winner is scheduled to sign autographs at 11:00am at 2049 Century Park East.
David Ragan is scheduled to sign autographs at Discount Tire, 17871 Castleton Street City of Industry, CA 91748 6pm-8pm. roushracing.com
Tony Stewart is scheduled sign autographs at the Office Depot store in Rancho Cucamonga, California, on from 1:30pm-4pm. http://www.jayski.com/
Robby Gordon will visit with firefighters and sign autographs from 12pm-2 pm at the San Diego Convention Center. http://www.robbygordon.com/
Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, David Stremme, Reed Sorenson, Michael Annett, John Wes Townley & Justin Allgaier are scheduled to sign autographs at the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California from 6pm-7pm. Johnson is scheduled to host the Fast Cars and Country Stars concert. Arena address is: 4000 E. Ontario Center Parkway, Ontario California. For ticket information and directions visit the Citizens Bank Business Arena website. http://www.jayski.com/

Saturday, February 21, 2009
Carl Edwards is scheduled to be inducted in the Auto Club Speedway Walk of Fame at 10:30am. The ceremony will be held near Gate 12 at the race track. http://www.jayski.com/pages/appear.htm
Sam Hornish is scheduled to appear at the Opportunity, California FanZone at Auto Club Speedway at 11:45am. http://www.jayski.com/pages/appear.htm

Sunday, Feb 22, 2009
Casey Mears is scheduled to sign autographs at the Jack Daniel's souvenir trailer located in Auto Club Speedway's display area, outside the front straightaway at 11:30am. Casey is also scheduled to be at the Jack Daniel’s Experience at 12pm. http://www.jayski.com/pages/appear.htm
Kurt Busch will be at the Fan Zone-California Speedway at 11:45am http://www.kurtbusch.com/index_hi_1024.php
Elliot Sadler: Think you know your Team Tylenol trivia? Stop by the Team Tylenol display for details and your chance to be one of 10 lucky fans to test your knowledge against Elliott Sadler. elliottsadler.com
Clint Bowyer is scheduled to hold "story time" with kids during Auto Club Speedway's Kids Club event at 10:40am. The event will be held at the Opportunity, California FanZone Stage at Auto Club Speedway. http://www.jayski.com/pages/appear.htm
Sam Hornish is scheduled to be on hand to sign autographs at the Penske Racing souvenir trailer at Auto Club Speedway from 10am - 10:30am. Sam is also scheduled to appear at the Auto Club display in the Opportunity, California FanZone at 11:20am.http://www.jayski.com/pages/appear.htm
Reed Sorenson is scheduled to sign autographs at his trackside trailer from 12pm - 12:30 pm

Nascar drivers in television

It always amazes me when I think of the hectic schedule of Nascar drivers and crew members have. It’s so far beyond them showing up at a race track on Thursday and leaving after the race on Sunday. Between the few days they are home, they juggle their family life while working long hours at the shop, figuring out how to make the car better and doing multiple charity events.

With this lifestyle, it amazes me when I hear of a driver taking time out to appear on a television show. I read on Nascar.com today that Jeff Burton will be appearing as himself on General Hospital. This made me giggle a little…hell, Soap Opera’s make me giggle period.

I think it is a brilliant form of cross-marketing to have a Nascar driver appear on primetime or daytime television. It brings new viewers to both the sport and the show that they guest star on.

For instance:

Bringing viewers to the sport: in February 2006, Jimmie Johnson appeared on NBC’s then hit show Las Vegas, which at the time was one of my favorite shows. I was just getting my feet wet in the crazy world of Nascar. After watching him on the show and deciding he was very good looking, I declared JJ as my favorite driver and excitedly cheered him on as he won the Daytona 500 a few weeks later. Now that I had a favorite driver, I started watching more and more races and started learning more about the sport. I don’t hold Las Vegas solely responsible for my addiction to Nascar, but that episode played a major part in it.

Bringing viewers to the show: Carl Edwards appeared on Fox’s 24 a few months later. By this time, I was traveling to a ton of races and had become quite knowledgeable of the sport. I had already left Jimmie in the dust and claimed Carl as my favorite driver (still is today). As soon as I heard he was to appear on that episode, I made sure to set up the TiVo. Mark my word; I would never have watched that episode if it weren’t for the fact that Carl was starring in it.

After a little googling, I found that Casey Mears appeared on Days of Our Lives, Jamie McMurray appeared on The West Wing and Carl Edwards appeared on Guiding Light.

So, my question to you is which show would you want your favorite driver to appear on? Would you go out of your way to watch a show you normally don’t view if your driver were to make a guest appearance on it?

What is happening to TV?

I found out today that Prison Break is being canceled. I avidly watched this show every Monday night. This means no more Michael (Wentworth Miller), who is the reason I got hooked on the show! Yet, this news doesn’t come as a shock to me. Sometime before Christmas, I was on the phone w/ a friend and we were discussing how the show needs to end before it gets stupid. How much more could they possibly put these guys through? I am still saddened by this addition to the shows I watch getting the ax in 2009.

A few weeks ago, I took 2 blows by finding out that Dirty Sexy Money and Lipstick Jungle are being canceled. While these are both fairly new shows, they may be 2 of the best ones on TV right now.

I just started watching Dirty Sexy Money this season and I was instantly addicted. It has a genius cast and an always surprising “oh no he/she didn’t” story plot. Why ABC would cancel this show is beyond me. It is truly a guilty pleasure show.

I read the book Lipstick Jungle a few years ago and when I heard word that it was turning into a Network series, I was excited and couldn’t wait. It quickly turned into my favorite show on TV. Then right before Halloween, they moved the show from Wednesday to Friday night. Friday is dooms day for any TV show. A few weeks later, I heard the news…..NBC was not picking it up for 2009. WHAT!! No more hot and steamy scenes with Kirby (Robert Buckley)?! To add salt to the wound, NBC resigned Kath and Kim (that horrific show with Molly Shannon and Selma Blair) which had lower ratings than Lipstick Jungle. This is so not right.

So, are we being taken over by reality TV? If they cancel Lost after this season, the gloves are coming off.