Daytona 500 Grand Marshal James Franco Disses Danica Patrick At Start of Race … “Drivers and Danica, start your engines.”

Just another reason why actors should stick to the script …

Did you miss it yesterday at the start of the Daytona 500? James Franco, the Grand Marshall of the Daytona 500, decided to go off script, added his PC’ness to the starting instruction and botched the entire thing. Instead of saying the obvious, “Gentleman and Danica, start your engines” as obviously Danica Patrick was the only female driver in the race. However, Franco flubbed the line and in doing so dissed Danica when he said, “Drivers and Danica, start your engines.” So I guess Danica is not a driver? The sad part was I actually think that Franco was trying to give Danica a special shout out and botched the it completely. Say, who was that doing the start if the race, Joe Biden?

With all due respect to the haters of Danica Patrick, she is a driver. Last time I checked she won the pole, was the first woman to ever lead a lap in the Daytona 500 and is one of a hand full of drivers to lead a lap in the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500. Face it folks, Danica is finally doing the job on the track and getting the well deserved kudos after having received all of the media attention for her off the track exploits and Go Daddy racy commercials.

In fairness to James Franco, the traditional Daytona 500-opening phrase, “Gentlemen, start your engines,” doesn’t really work, what with Danica Patrick in the pole position and all.

It desperately needed a rewrite and, presumably, got one. So Franco probably meant to say, “Gentlemen and Danica” or “Drivers,” but, like hosting the Oscars, this is a tricky gig. And what came out was all wrong.

When will Hollywood actors ever learn to just stick to the script, they are hardly paid to ad lib.

Terrible Crash on Last Lap of Nationwide Series Race at Daytona International Speedway Injurues 11 NASCAR Fans (VIDEO of Tire Hitting Fan) (Update: 30 Fans Injured)

At least 11 NASCAR fans were injured, some in serious condition, following  a terrible crash on the last lap of a Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway. According to reports, large chunks of race car debris, including a tire, flew into the stands and through the fence. The crash that occurred on the final lap of the race sent rookie Kyle Larson’s car sailing into the fence. Kyle Larson, Regan Smith, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Joe Nemechek, Robert Richardson, Trevor Bayne, Mike Wallace, Travis Pastrana, Elliott Sadler, Alex Bowman, Brad Keselowski, and Justin Allgaier were all involved in the accident. While Tony Stewart won the race, its was little concern as 11 14 15 fans were transported to Halifax Health Medical Center, and an additional 14 were treated at the at-track care center.

VIDEO from Fox News Sports

At least 11 NASCAR fans were injured Saturday when large chunks of debris, including a tire, sailed into the grandstands when a car flew into the fence on a frightening last-lap accident in the second-tier Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway. The crash began as the field closed in on the finish line and sent rookie Kyle Larson’s car sailing into the fence that separates the track from the seats. Large chunks of Larson’s car landed in the grandstands. The car itself had its entire front end sheared off, with the burning engine wedged through a gaping hole in the fence. Nathan Kimpel, 24, who works at a concession stand near where the crash happened, told CBS News correspondent Adriana Diaz that he saw 10 to 15 fans being carried out on stretchers. “As soon as I saw the accident I just turned my head because I didn’t want to get injured or anything,” Kimpel told Diaz. “I saw the fence separate and more pieces of car parts flying up.”

ESPN reports the following:

Sergeant John Creamer of the Daytona Beach Police said 17 fans were injured, with two suffering “major injuries.” Eleven were sent to Halifax Medical Center where one adult is in surgery with life-threatening head trauma, and a 14-year-old is in critical, but not life threatening condition, hospital representative Byron Cogdell told ESPN.

Six of the injured fans were transported to Florida Memorial Hospital with minor injuries, and are expected to be treated and released.

At least one tire from Larson’s car flew into the seating area at Daytona. Police officers and NASCAR safety officials quickly ran to the location where part of the car went through the fencing, destroying one section of the catch fence.

Initial photos showed several people being placed on stretchers in the grandstands. One woman’s leg was bleeding as she was carried away.

“Right now, the function is to determine what damage was done,” NASCAR president Mike Helton said. “They are taking some folks to Halifax Medical Center. Our prayers and thoughts are with everyone they are working on.

 UPDATE I: NASCAR makes YouTube take down eyewitness video of crash.

Really NASCAR, do you really want to go there and be like the rest sports who John Q. Public have run away from to watch NASCAR? NASCAR claims they took the video down out of respect for the injured fans. BS!!! You don’t get to make the call as to what is and is not shown and only filtered through the prism of NSACAR. The following VIDEO from The Verge is still available.

VIDEO of fan getting hit by tire. You can see in this fan video the tire in the stands

Danica Patrick Wins Daytona 500 Pole and Becomes First Woman to Ever to Win a Pole of Any NASCAR Top Circuit Race

Danica Patrick makes NASCAR history.

This week Danica Patrick has proved that she is not just another pretty face. Although, that’s not to say that she is not a pretty face. In a historic week of race qualifying,  Patrick has won the Daytona 500 pole, becoming the first woman to win the top spot for any NASCAR’s top circuit race. In only her second Daytona 500 she has won the first place pole position. Now she just needs to parlay this into a special run in the Holy Grail of NASCAR racing and finally earn the respect of not just the drivers, but the NSACAR fans and community. The pressure will be on Patrick heading into the Daytona 500 as she finds herself as the hunted, instead of the hunter. The previous highest female qualifier in a Cup race was Janet Guthrie, who started ninth at Bristol and Talladega in 1977. Finally Danica Patrick has done something to make news on the track and not just being a headline because who she is dating, fellow Cup rookie Ricky Stenhouse Jr. NASCAR veteran Jeff Gordon qualified second in the No. 24 car. Now we have to see whether Danica can perform on Sunday.  The Daytona 500 race is February 24, 2013 at 1 PM EST.

Danica Patrick has won the Daytona 500 pole, becoming the first woman to secure the top spot for any race in NASCAR’s top circuit. It was the biggest achievement of her stock-car career. “We have a lot more history to make and we’re eager to do it,” Patrick said. Patrick went out eighth in the qualifying session Sunday and covered the 2½-mile superspeedway in 45.817 seconds, averaging 196.434 mph. 

KUDOS to Danica for breaking the pole sitting barrier. Hopefully in time she can be seen as just another driver, not a female one.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Drivers BK Racing Teammates Landon Cassill & Travis Kvapil Feature Photos of Missing Iowa Girls Lyric Cook & Elizabeth Collins at the Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono Raceway

Ten year old Lyric Cook and 9 year old Elizabeth Collins have been missing since July 13, 2012 when they were last seen riding their bikes in Evansdale, Iowa.  This Sunday at the Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono Raceway NASCAR is coming to the aid of the two missing Iowa girls.

NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers Landon Cassill and Travis Kvapil of the BK racing team will feature photos of the missing Iowa girls at the Pennsylvania Pocono 400 on their race cars, including the phone number for the National Missing Children hotline.

Cassill is from Cedar Rapids, Iowa,

“Being from Iowa, and having some other folks in the sport from Iowa, we’re all pulling together to raise as much attention as possible to help locate the two missing girls,” Cassill said. “I really want to do as much as possible and this is one step. I can’t thank the team enough for doing this.”

Kvapil hopes the effort will put a national spotlight on the investigation.

“As a parent, I want to do anything I can to help the families locate their children,” Kvapil said. “I’m pleased that we have the special decals on our cars this weekend and I hope that this will aid in the search.”

Michelle Obama to serve as Grand Marshal NASCAR Ford 400 in Swing State of Florida

Good grief, first lady Michelle Obama to serve as Grand Marshall of the NASCAR season ending Ford 400 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida.Talk about your photo-ops and pander for votes. Give it up Michelle, NASCAR is not voting for your Obama in 2012.

The NASCAR appearance is billed as part of the first lady’s “Joining Forces” initiative for military families, and Mrs. Obama’s Joining Forces co-chair, “Second Lady” Dr. Jill Biden, will also serve as Grand Marshal.

The Ford 400 is held at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida. Florida is perhaps the most critical presidential battleground state in the country.

But Mrs. Obama’s presence at one of the biggest NASCAR events of the year will surely be noticed throughout the region where the sport if popular, which includes many other critical swing states like Ohio, North Carolina, Virginia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Missouri and Missouri.

Indeed, the “NASCAR vote” has taken a place alongside “soccer moms” as a coveted demographic for presidential candidates.

As Weasel Zippers says, who knew that Michelle would be pandering the NASCAR vote, who as Barack Obama stated were, “bitter,” distrustful have-nots who “cling to guns or religion.” Why am I thinking there will be some booing going on at the start of the race?