Motorsports

Speed reading

By BRANT JAMES
Published June 18, 2005

* Daytona International Speedway's ticket department is promoting a package deal for superstretch tickets for the July 2 Pepsi 400 by challenging fans to "Dare to Sit There." But the glib slogan may be cautionary. Seats down low at a baseball park where foul balls come whistling by are one thing, but sitting low and close along the superstretch is different. No one wants to snag a hood or a bolt at 200 mph. And the three-section superstretch, which promotional literature describes as "exhilarating and unpredictable", has yielded such life-altering souvenirs in the past.

The backstretch has been the scene of some memorable accidents the past few years. In 1997, the hood from Ernie Irvan's Ford flew into seats, breaking one fan's forearm and bruising another's knee.

* Tom Kristensen could become the first to win seven 24 Hours of Le Mans sports car endurance races in Le Mans, France. Kristensen has five consecutive wins to tie Jacky Ickx's record.

* It's a whole different NASCAR world in Sonoma, Calif., where track officials have passed on the requisite country singer du jour in favor of jazz pianist Eric Lewis to play the national anthem for Sunday's Nextel Cup race. He sounds like a big fan.

"Since I was a child, zooming along in cars has always been a great thrill for me," he said. "I am very much anticipating being out there amongst all of these great NASCAR drivers."

[Last modified June 18, 2005, 00:45:19]