Martin gets burned out on burnouts NASCAR driver Mark Martin of Batesville is not a fan of postrace burnouts.
After a victory, many drivers smoke their tires so much that the car is enveloped in a cloud.
“I think they’re real juvenile,” Martin said. “It’s disrespectful to the equipment, but it makes good TV.... If I did a burnout, I would wreck, so I’m not going to do it.” Martin said the closest he’s come was when his car slid onto the grass at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N. C., after he won the Coca-Cola 600. The car slid across the Coke logo in the grass.
“That was a stretch for me,” he said. “I’ll just collect the hardware. I’d rather take the checkered flag and hurry on to Victory Lane and get there so I can start enjoying it.” Everyone doesn’t share Martin’s view.
Humpy Wheeler, president of Lowe’s Motor Speedway, has added a burnout competition to the activities associated with the All-Star race at his track May 17. Five drivers will spin their tires, do two doughnuts and then spin into Victory Lane before the main event.
Shirt off his back Now that Brett Favre is retired, so is his jersey. The one that 12-year-old David Witthoft had worn every day for more than four years, that is. Witthoft, of Ridgefield, Conn., had worn the jersey for 1, 581 consecutive days since receiving it as a Christmas gift in 2003, but gave it up April 23 — his 12 th birthday. “It was tough for him for a while but now that he’s 12, he is a little more concerned about his appearance,” said Witthoft’s father, Chuck. “And the jersey barely came down to his belt line.” Witthoft first gained national attention three years ago and attended his first Green Bay Packers game in December. He’s also planning to attend the Sept. 8 game when the Packers retire Favre’s No. 4. His mother, Carolyn, had washed the jersey every other day and mended it when needed.
Lingering Bonds Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle recently consulted a feng shui expert to try and pinpoint the cause of Giants pitcher Barry Zito’s struggles. Deborah Gee noted that Zito’s locker is in the same row formerly occupied by Barry Bonds and called a pillar near Zito’s locker “an obstacle to success.” She also said that Zito and Matt Cain, who now occupies Bonds’ former locker, could be suffering from “predecessor chi,” which is “bad energy left behind.” They said it Former Boston Celtics star Larry Bird, after being asked by Dan Patrick of Sports Illustrated if he would put Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers in former Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan’s category: “Kobe is the best player in our league and has been for a long time. When someone told me the other day that Kobe hadn’t won an MVP trophy [he won his first one Tuesday ], it sort of made me want to throw mine away. But to say he’s another Michael Jordan, I can’t do that.” Toronto Blue Jays Manager Jay Gibbons, after visiting his 96-yearold grandmother at a nursing home: “She asked me, ‘What’s wrong with your team ?’ I said, ‘That’s a good question.’ Then she said, ‘Are you going to get fired ?’ That’s another good question.” Quote of the day “If Eight Belles would have come back and unsaddled, this kid would have been hailed the next riding sensation. Basically, he’s being accused of being a murderer.” Trainer Larry Jones, on a demand that jockey Gabriel Saez be suspended after the death of Eight Belles after the Kentucky Derby.
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