Hello! Today has been insane let me tell ya, but the one awesome thing has been writing up this final post of my interview with Kyle Petty. Again, this interview was done last week during Kyle’s promotion of Prostate Cancer Awareness Week.
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Me: In regards to Prostate Cancer Awareness, a lot of the readers of my website are women, what’s the most important thing that they can do for their husband or father to help them to go out there and see a doctor about this?
Petty: When had our STAY ON TRACK for Better Prostate Health booth set up at Michigan I was surprised at the amount of women who came through and would bring their husbands, or would say “My father had prostate cancer, it runs in our family and I’m trying to get my brothers to go and I really appreciate you guys speaking up on it.”
I think prostate cancer for so many people and especially guys, guys just are afraid to go be checked. And just like I said before, as my father uses the example of putting together a pit crew for his prostate cancer, I think so many guys will baby their car, change the oil, do everything they can with their car and their lawnmower, and their fishing boat or whatever it may be but they disregard their body. (more…)
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Here’s more from my interview with Kyle Petty. You should note that we spoke last week and so when he mentions “this week” he’s really talking about last week.
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Me: I know that you were on a Fitness TV show talking about your fitness regimen and health being a race car driver. It’s not something that people talk a lot about with NASCAR in terms of being an athlete. So how important is that to a race car driver to be physically fit and healthy and to have strength in the car?
Petty: Incredibly important. I think most people assume that if you play stick and ball sports you’re naturally an athlete, you’re in the best shape that you can be in and that’s the way it is. I think you’ve got to be in shape to drive a car at 180 or 190 miles an hour or to make split second decisions that can almost in some instances be life and death decisions. So when you look at it like that from your mental sharpness to your physical sharpness and that goes hand in hand. You hear so much about exercise and how that stabilizes and what that does to your mental well being and your attitudes, I think exercise is important. (more…)
I’m back from Vegas with two scratches and a bruise on my shoulder and I have no idea how I got any of them. Let’s just say it was an eventful, fun and productive weekend. I met some really awesome people from around the country and learned about some great products. For example, you should all check out Yoono. It’s a cool little web browser add-on that allows you to manage all of your social networking and instant messenger accounts from one place. And you should also check out Simon Pierce, it’s a company based in Vermont that makes amazing and beautiful blown glass pieces (think bowls, vases, etc.).
Most things that happen in Vegas should stay there but I have to share one very cool thing. Like I mentioned before I left Tim Ferriss, author of the book “The 4-Hour Work Week,” and musician Mike Shinoda of the band Linkin Park were the keynote speakers on the last day of the Blog World & New Media Expo event. Their talk only lasted an hour but I wish they could of tacked on a second one.
They talked about the stuff that really matters to me at this point in my blog career like how to brand yourself and get publicity, but in the right ways. Just before Ferriss left the convention center I went up to him and told him how much I appreciated his talk and how I wished he’d write a book about the topics he brought up that day. He gave me some advice and was very, very nice.
Ok, so about racing. On Sunday I didn’t get to watch the race live, yet again, which seems to be doing something for Greg Biffle because he won again for the second straight week, this time at Dover.
And uhm, that’s all I’ve got. Sorry! I’ve got a bunch of stuff to do like posting the rest of my Kyle Petty interview. So I’ll leave ya with some photos from Dover and news about a Dale Earnhardt Jr. auction.
In other news…
– Starting today and until October 3rd, 2008 you have the chance to bid on a ride of a lifetime with Dale Earnhardt Jr. Wrangler and Dale Jr. are auctioning off the opportunity to meet Dale and have him take you around the racetrack at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in his No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet. All of the proceeds from the auction go to the Victory Junction Gang Camp. Here’s more information:
Here’s your chance to be one of the first to ride with Dale Earnhardt Jr. in his Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet! You’ll ride shotgun with Dale for three high-speed hot laps — reaching speeds in excess of 170 mph — around Lowe’s Motor Speedway. The lucky winner will take home autographs, pictures and video captured from the in-car camera during their ride with NASCAR’s most popular driver. Earnhardt is also giving fans the opportunity to bid on two unique piece of Nascar history, including an autographed door panel from the infamous crash in his No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet. Also up for grabs are a pair of Wrangler Jeans worn and autographed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. himself! Thanks to Wrangler Jeans, all auction proceeds will benefit the Victory Junction Gang Camp, a NASCAR-themed camp for children with chronic medical conditions or serious illnesses. Head over to www.ebay.com/wranglerjeans to learn more!
Photos from Dover:
Even though he’s pulling double duty this weekend by competiting in both the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Camping World RV 400 and the NASCAR Nationwide Series Camping World RV Sales 200, driver Clint Bowyer is all smiles in the garage during Friday’s practice at Dover International Speedway. (Photo Credit: Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Last week’s winner at New Hampshire, Greg Biffle (driver of the No. 3M Ford) chats with car owner Jack Roush in the garage during Friday’s practice at Dover International Speedway. Biffle will start fifth in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Camping World RV 400. (Photo Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Super cute kid photo of the day!
Fans watch the action from the stands during the NASCAR Nationwide Series Camping World RV Sales 200 on Saturday at Dover International Speedway. (Photo Credit: Grant Halverson/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Kyle Busch and the crew of the #18 Interstate Batteries Toyota look at the car in the garage area during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Camping World RV 400 at Dover International Speedway on September 21, 2008 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Helloooo Scott Lagasse. I’m just sayin’ 
Scott Lagasse Jr., during qualifying for the NASCAR Nationwide Series Camping World RV 200 at Dover International Speedway on September 20, 2008 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
This morning I interviewed Kyle Petty, part-time driver of the No. 45 Wells Fargo Marathon PVA Dodge Charger, son to Richard Petty and grandson to Lee Petty. The name Petty is synonymous with NASCAR and I don’t think there’s anyone on the planet that doesn’t know who they are or what they’re famous for — there’s been a Petty racing in every NASCAR season since the sport’s inception in 1949. So speaking with Kyle was an honor, to say the least.
In this first post Kyle talks about Prostate Cancer Awareness Week (which is this week) and how this subject hits home with him and his family. Stay tuned for subsequent posts that will cover things like the importance of physical fitness for race car drivers, his impending musical performance at Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s charity concert in October and what the future holds for his racing career.
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Me: Tell me why Prostate Cancer Awareness Week means so much to you.
Kyle Petty: Because it runs in our family. My grandfather in the later years of his life was diagnosed with it. My father went through prostate cancer in the early to mid 90s. So obviously at my age and with my family history I am in a high risk category. And we do so much; we have a camp in North Carolina called the Victory Junction Gang Camp which is a camp for children with chronic and life threatening illnesses. We see so many diseases that are preventable and treatable, once they are diagnosed, that obviously being this close to [it] myself it’s important for me to understand what prostate cancer is all about.
I was fortunate to be asked to help with this. Early in the year in June we did a thing in Michigan International Speedway and had a booth, STAY ON TRACK for Better Prostate Health. Had a great time, had a great turn out up there with people at the racetrack who came out and wanted to know more about it. We asked them to take the “Kyle Petty Prostate Inspection Pledge,” to go to the website — www.pcaw.com — to get the manual STAY ON TRACK, a manual for better prostate health. It really explains everything about prostate cancer from symptoms to being diagnosed, and once you’re diagnosed the process you go through.
Obviously we’re in a sport where team work is important, and my father kind of approached it like a pit crew and put together a pit crew of a medical oncologist, a radiation oncologist, a urologist. Basically we looked at it like a pit crew, like a team that was trying to attack the problem and figure out the best way around it just like they would from the race shop side.
This isn’t something that you just talk about. This is something that’s obviously touched my life on a couple of different occasions and it has the potential to be apart of my life for years to come. So to get the awareness out there, to be able to talk to race fans and get race fans involved in it, and have an understanding with the race fans of what this is all about and get them behind it is important.
Happy Thursday everyone! It’s a great day for me because tomorrow I’m flying to Las Vegas for the Blog World & New Media Expo. I had a great time last year and I’m looking forward to sitting in on the sports blogging sessions. The big news this year, at least for me, is that Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park will be a keynote speaker along with Tim Ferriss, writer of the book “The 4-Hour Work Week.” I know I’m going to get a lot out of this weekend. Vegas baby, Vegas!
In other news…
– This morning I got to interview Kyle Petty! He was made available to me because he has been busy promoting Prostate Cancer Awareness Week and the STAY ON TRACK for Better Prostate Health prostate cancer awareness program sponsored by the Prostate Cancer Education Council and sanofi-aventis. I plan on posting the first part our discussion today. Check back later on today or subscribe to my RSS feed to read it as soon as it goes online.
– Are you interested in winning free gas? Well check out this awesome promotion from Shell-Pennzoil:
Shell is bringing new meaning to the “No. 29.” Through September 28, the company will highlight the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil car and offer customers the chance to win free Shell gasoline through the “Shell $2,900 Every Day Giveaway” promotion. At participating stations, customers will receive a scratch-and-match game card with any fuel purchase.
Building off the stop gunky build-up theme, consumers need to scratch off the gunk on the valves to see what they have won. Plus, the game cards will feature online codes for more chances to win Shell fuel every 29 minutes and thousands of other prizes, including No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil merchandise autographed by Kevin Harvick and a limited edition 105th Anniversary Harley-Davidson(r) Motorcycle, XL Sportster 1200C. Consumers may also write in for a free game card. And in Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia only, Shell customers will have the chance to participate in the “Get a Free Race Cup” promotion while supplies last. There will be three different racing cups to collect.
– There’s still time to enter to win one of five Kevin Harvick autographed “Americans for a Gunk-Free Nation” hats! The contest ends on September 30th, 2008. Enter today!
– I love Martha Stewart and I have for pretty much all of my life. She’s the reason I had the confidence to make my sister’s three-tier wedding cake ten years ago. Anywho, yesterday she devoted a show to bloggers and blogging, and now she’s running a little contest where she’ll pick some blogs to feature on her site, The Martha Blog. Of course I put myself in the running. Go check it out!
– Ok, so get this, remember when I told you that fate finally threw me a bone and got me close to Dale Earnhardt Jr. well there’s a photo to go with it. I came across it when I was checking out the NASCAR blog over at AOL’s FanHouse. So take a look below and you’ll see that I’m right there on the left-hand side looking pissed off almost straight at the camera. I really wasn’t, but it was insanely hot and that’s my “it’s seriously freaking hot and I’m serious about that” face.
Last week the top 12 drivers in The Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship were in New York City for Chase Media Day. For the drivers it meant making television appearances and conducting a bunch of interviews with various media outlets.
All twelve drivers appeared on The David Letterman Show to run down Dave’s “Top Ten List”, or in this case, a top-twelve list:
Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson hung out on The Early Show with host Harry Smith:
Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards went on Tony Stewart’s show on Sirius Satellite Radio and they addressed their “rivalry.” There’s a clip of them discussing exactly that over on Tony’s page at Sirius.com. Look for the section on the right-hand side with the “Sounds of the Show” heading.
And now for the photos, I’d like to point out Dale Earnhardt Jr. and how much I loved his sweater/button-up combo. That’s a very good look for him. In fact all of the guys looked really good, kudos to them and anyone that helped them pick out their outfits. (more…)
