Guest Column By Cathy Elliott
Three time cup series champion Cale Yarborough (R) speaks while Jimmie Johnson (L), driver of the #48 Lowe's/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet, watches during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards Ceremony at the Waldorf Astoria on December 5, 2008 in New York City. (Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images for NASCAR)
It is Sunday afternoon, and I am sitting in my office, mentally unpacking my luggage.
I have just returned to the real world after seven days of what now feels like an almost surreal experience – 2008 Champions Week in New York City, celebrating the accomplishments of three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson.
Now, I am in downtown Darlington, S. C. with my feet on the desk, surveying the activity at the convenience store across the street and experiencing the slightly displaced feeling you sometimes get after being out of town for a while.
In 24 hours, I have literally traveled from Park Avenue to Main Street, USA. I feel like Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor from the old “Green Acres” television show might come around the corner at any moment, belting out “Fresh air! Times Square!” while Eb waits in the kitchen for his morning plate of hotcakes. My worlds are colliding, but I like the feeling.
When I packed my bags for my trip to New York, I was careful and concise. Everything in my suitcase had a reason for being there. Like that benevolent, calorically-challenged guy in the red suit we’re all so fond of at this time of year, I made a list and checked it twice.
I should know by now that you can never really “plan out” Champions Week. The best you can do is remember to bring your cell phone charger and at least one pair of comfortable shoes; going with the NASCAR flow in NYC involves a lot of walking.
A deep breath and some equally deep concentration are required to remember even part of the week’s events. They have all been mixed and matched and worn and crammed back into the suitcase now. Still, as they are taken out, shaken out and relegated to the dry cleaner, the laundry hamper or back on the hanger and into the closet, each little black dress or blue pair of jeans whispers its story.
The week began with what has become most of the most popular activities of the week, dinner on Monday evening in the Waldorf=Astoria kitchen. Please allow me to emphasize that this does not look anything my kitchen. One, it’s clean, and two, it’s bigger than my house. I think it may be bigger than my entire subdivision.
Did you know that duck can be referred to as an appetizer? I usually refer to it as Christmas dinner.
My first invitation to this event actually felt like Christmas dinner, now that I think about it.
Jimmie Johnson’s week was the equivalent of a shotgun schedule, one pellet fired after another in rapid succession. He attended more luncheons and receptions and dinners than you can shake the proverbial stick at. I don’t even want to know how many plates of food were set in front of that man over the course of the week, each one duly sampled and courteously complimented.
He was also interviewed and photographed a time or two or a hundred, in places like Central Park, the Hard Rock Café in Times Square, the Sports Museum of America, on “Good Morning America,” at the intersection of 48th Avenue and 3rd Street to celebrate the No. 48 team’s third consecutive championship, and at the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange. The stock market actually finished ahead that day. Go figure.
Johnson visited with New York area media and with fans at Foley’s Irish pub on Wednesday, then collected some accolades and a number of nice checks at ultra-elegant Cipriani, an Italian restaurant, site of the 2008 NASCAR NMPA Myers Brothers Media Luncheon on Thursday. Each of the 12 drivers in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup was recognized at this event.
During Champions Week, big things become almost routine because there are just so many of them happening. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship trophy is on display in the hotel lobby over here, while over there, Joe Gibbs gets off the elevator as Rick Hendrick waits to get on. Leonardo DiCaprio strolls past in a hotel corridor (yes, you read that right).
Speaking of movie stars, hotel security did its (unsuccessful) best to keep me away from banquet rehearsal with Kevin Costner, a featured guest at this year’s event. I suppose they were worried I might lose my head, fling myself across the Waldorf’s Grand Ballroom and body-slam the two-time Academy Award winner to the floor as he practiced his speech.
Honestly, they had cause for concern. There was a fairly strong possibility that might happen. Sometimes a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.
The Awards Banquet itself was another winner. Mrs. Betty Jane France, wife of late NASCAR CEO Bill France Jr., gave a moving and picture-perfect introduction to a video presentation on the building of Daytona International Speedway, comparing it to the baseball field in Costner’s movie “Field of Dreams”. The food was great, the comedian John Pinete was funny, and the band Matchbox Twenty sounded just like they do on the radio.
The driver speeches went smoothly. I thought the best line of the evening came from Jeff Burton. I’m paraphrasing, but during his remarks, sixth-place finisher Burton began talking about U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and said, “We’re sitting here tonight eating steak and lobster, while they’re out there defending us so we can race.”
Perennially popular former NASCAR superstar Cale Yarborough came onstage late in the evening to present Johnson with his championship ring. It was an unannounced appearance by the man who for years held the title of the only driver in history to win three consecutive championships. Yarborough humorously noted this fact during his remarks, commenting that Johnson hadn’t broken his record, only tied it.
Johnson may have brought the crowd to its feet, but with that remark, Yarborough brought down the house.
Champions Week is a whirlwind of activity and glamour and fun. Unfortunately, most people don’t have the privilege of attending these events in person. I know I am very lucky.
But as I look around my office, I see a small chunk of old, crumbling asphalt from Darlington Raceway resting beside a gift from a friend proclaiming me a “World Famous Shoe Shopper”. A Jim Hunter bobblehead doll sits on a shelf next to a picture of my dog. This, to me, epitomizes the spirit of NASCAR. It is a familiar and accessible part of not only my everyday life, but of everyone’s, and we should appreciate it as such.
Suddenly, the distance from Park Avenue to Main Street feels like a very short trip.
On NASCAR will be on hiatus for the remainder of 2008. We will look forward to seeing you again in January 2009. Happy holidays!
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