Motorsports

Cherry to compete for entry-level NASCAR ride

By BRANT JAMES, Times Staff Writer
Published October 13, 2007

The youngest and only African-American to win at East Bay Raceway in Gibsonton was invited to the fourth annual NASCAR Drive for Diversity combine for the second time. He will compete Monday and Tuesday with 23 other hopefuls (including 19-year-old Sarasota sprint car driver Danny Martin) at South Boston (Va.) Speedway for entry-level rides with NASCAR race teams, including Dale Earnhardt Inc. The program attempts to select and nurture young talent to help diversify a virtually all-white, all-male driver pool in NASCAR's top three series.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Won his four-wheel championship at Hendry County Speedway in the Sportsman (Limited Late Model, V8) class this year. Has 11 feature wins, eight heat wins, 17 top-5s, 19 top-10s in Late Models and Limited Late Models.

ETC: Was a child runway model and actor, appeared in 22 episodes of mid '90s television show Second Noah, which revolved around a veterinarian at Busch Gardens. Also a bit player in Hulk Hogan opus Thunder in Paradise around the same time, and did several television commercials. ... Dropped out of Durant High, but overcame dyslexia to earn his GED with the help of his mother. His parents, Marsha and Jimmy, are white. He has no relationship with his biological father, who is African-American. ... Doesn't own a cell phone. Had the text feature removed when he did have one. ... All of his race equipment, including a $1,000 head and neck restraint and $500 helmet were stolen from a truck outside his home after the diversity combine last year. He just replaced the last piece recently.

How much more ready are you this year than last?

I think I am a lot better this year. Last year was the first time I was on the asphalt. I really didn't know much. I was a little nervous meeting everybody, meeting new people, and now I won't be so nervous. I'll speak up. I'll try to be myself. If they try to help me go a little faster, try to help me with interviews, I'll be a little better with that. I'll take a lot of advice and speak up more.

I would think being a child actor must have helped your confidence. What was your role on Second Noah?

To tell you the truth, I was the little black kid. That's pretty much what I was. There was one little black kid, and that was me.

What about Thunder in Paradise?'

Pretty much, (Hogan) would talk. I just stood there and smiled and had my little thing going while he talked.

And you did child modeling?

I used to do pageants until I was 10 years old. You don't hear that from very many people.

Certainly not from race car drivers. Are you prepared to be ragged about that if it ever hits a media guide?

I don't mind telling you one thing about it. I feel proud of what I've done. I did it until I was 10. I went from there to bicycles.

Have you given any thought to moving to Charlotte to get a little closer to the job opportunities?

Me and my dad were talking about it the other day, just selling the house, getting everything situated and just heading up there. That's where everything is happening.

No cell phone? That's just odd.

I just like doing my own thing. Being with myself.

Dan Says

We've enlisted St. Petersburg resident and former Indy Racing League champion Dan Wheldon as our informal fourth Dancing with the Stars judge, just to provide us with some extra critique on his IRL colleague, Helio Castroneves. Dan has been known to get down, get down, get down, get down, every now and again.

"Helio was a 7 this week. He wasn't quite himself. It wasn't his best performance, so in true Helio fashion he went for the sympathy vote. Good job!"

NASCAR's most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., turned 33 on Wednesday. That's 3 plus 3, you know, his daddy's number, but double. Ooooh, numerology.

Anyway, what does one get the man who seemingly has everything?

1 Emancipation from his owner/stepmother, like Macauley Culkin. Check.

2 A better race team. Check.

3 A bunch of new sponsors to replace his old one. Check.

4 New Radiohead album. Now you're thinking.

5 The number 8? Don't be hurtful.

5a Oh, wait. An engine that can actually make it to the end of a race.

Perhaps Junior will finally win that first Nextel Cup championship at age 33 with Hendrick Motorsports. He'd be 34 by the season finale at Homestead, but he'd have done most of the heavy lifting (hot new NASCAR cliche) at 33.

Some other famous accomplishments by 33-year-olds from museumofconceptualart.com:

- English feminist Mary Wollstonecraft wrote Vindication of the Rights of Women.

- Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic alone.

- Jesus of Nazareth, a moral teacher who was executed and eventually became the most renowned religious figure in history.

- Vaudeville performer Walter Nilsson rode across the United States on an 8 1/2 foot unicycle.

- Successful merchant Cyrus West Field retired at age 33 to devote himself to laying the first trans-Atlantic telegraph cable.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote his essay, Nature, encouraging readers to see the miraculous in the common.

- Robert Hensel set a world record for the longest non-stop wheelie in a wheelchair. Hensel, born with spina bifida, covered a distance of 6.178 miles. He is also an internationally published poet with over 900 publications to date.""

Tony time

Tony Gibson has resumed the crew chief position with Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 8 Chevrolet program as Tony Eury Jr. was allowed to begin his career several races early for Hendrick Motorsports. Earnhardt Jr. will drive the No. 88 Chevrolet at Hendrick beginning next season. Eury Jr. is likely to shadow Hendrick crew chiefs at the track the rest of the season.

Gibson served as interim crew chief for six races when Eury Jr. was suspended for rules violations earlier in this season.

Gibson, a Daytona Beach native, won two championships in six seasons at Hendrick as a car chief for Jeff Gordon before joining Dale Earnhardt Inc. in 2003. He was also a crew member on Alan Kulwicki's 1991 championship team.

Next step

Defending Indy Racing League champion and NASCAR driver in training Dario Franchitti has been entered in the Oct.20 truck series race at Martinsville. The Cunningham Motorsports entry will be led by Clearwater native Brian Pattie, who served as crew chief in Franchitti's stock car debut in an ARCA race on Friday at Talladega.

Reserve not met

The now-defunct International Race of Champions series will soon auction its fleet of 10 race cars and a two-seater on eBay. Series officials had hoped to fetch $70,000-100,000 each and liquidate its stock in private auctions. A car driven by Dale Earnhardt Sr., four times by Mark Martin and to victory in Texas in 2005 by Sebastien Bourdais will be auctioned at $150,000.

[Last modified October 12, 2007, 19:18:10]