Ray Hudson is turning a lifelong dream into an opportunity to help the camp that Winston Cup driver Kyle Petty is building for seriously ill children.
Hudson works as a fabricator at Petty Enterprises and has always wanted to hike the Appalachian Trail - all 2,171 miles of it. He began the hike from Springer Mountain, Georgia, on March 1, and hopes to reach the finish line at Baxter State Park, Maine, by Aug. 1.
Hudson has received pledges for each mile he hikes, and could raise as much as $25,000 for Petty's Victory Junction Gang Camp by completing the journey.
To lend his support, Petty met Hudson on April 30 at mile marker 51.7 of the Blue Ridge Parkway, where it crosses the Appalachian Trail.
"I think it is really awesome for Ray to fulfill his childhood dream and hike the trail," Petty said. "I know what it is like to ride a motorcycle for 2,100 miles; I can't imagine hiking over 2,100 miles through the mountains."
Victory Junction Gang Camp is a non-profit organization that will provide camp sessions year round for children ages 7-15. The racing-themed camp is under construction in Randleman, North Carolina, and will open in the summer of 2004. For more information or to make a donation, visit www.victoryjunction.org or call (336) 398-9055.
Big In BeantownAs if there was ever any doubt that the Boston area has many NASCAR fans, more than 2,000 recently showed up at a shopping mall for an appearance by Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Junior was in Brockton, Massachusetts, in mid-April to plug Drakkar Noir, a men's fragrance that has a marketing deal with the Winston Cup driver.
Fans lined up for hours to get the chance to meet Junior, and to have him sign a bottle of the cologne. It was the highest grossing one-day event in the history of Drakkar Noir.
During a question and answer session, Junior said he's splashed on Drakkar Noir since his high school days.
"The fragrance has its own style," he said. "It's masculine and seductive, strong and powerful. I feel like it has a lot of similarities with my style of driving and how I attack the race."
Is he a marketing machine or what?
Rookie MoneyYou can't blame rookie drivers in NASCAR's reconfigured Elite Division for trying extra hard to get to the front this season. After all, they're gunning for a share of $20,000 in post-season awards thanks to a new sponsorship deal.
Victory Circle, a chassis design and fabrication company headquartered in Bakersfield, California, is sponsoring the rookie-of-the-year awards for the Elite Division.
Rookies in four NASCAR series are eligible for the award: Featherlite Southwest Series, International Truck and Engine Corporation Midwest Series, Kodak Southeast Series, and the Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series. Rookie drivers in those four series will share the $20,000 year-end point fund.
Honoring The FDNY And Special OlympicsRobby Gordon and the No. 31 Cingular Wireless Winston Cup team will pay tribute to the New York City Fire Department and Special Olympics when the tour races at the Watkins Glen, New York, road course on Aug. 10.