http://projects.newsobserver.com/blogs/speed_week_meets_speed_week Comments for "Speed Week meets Speed Week" en http://projects.newsobserver.com/blogs/speed_week_meets_speed_week <!-- Begin check for Blog Icon --> <img src="/sites/projects.newsobserver.com/files/checkedflag_100.jpg" class="blog-icon" /> <!-- End check for Blog Icon --> <!-- Begin check for Teaser Toggle --> <div class="field-item"><p>It may be <a href="/blogs/speed_week">Speed Week</a>, but legislators took some time off to honor the <a href="http://www.lowesmotorspeedway.com/schedules/cocacola%5F600%5Fweek/">real thing</a>.</p><p>With just 34 hours left until the <a href="/faq/what_is_crossover_week">crossover</a> deadline for bills to stay alive this session, the House and the Senate stopped work for an hour this afternoon.</p><p>Their purpose? To <a href="http://ncleg.net/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2007&amp;BillID=s1563&amp;submitButton=Go">honor</a> Jimmie Johnson, the 2006 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nextel_Cup">Nextel Cup</a> champion racecar driver. </p><p><a href="http://hoovers.com/nascar/--ID__46898--/free-co-factsheet.xhtml">Nascar</a> CEO Brian France, President Mike Helton, <a href="http://www.hendrickmotorsports.com/">Hendrick Motorsports</a> owner Rick Hendrick and of course, the driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet himself, <a href="http://www.hendrickmotorsports.com/Jimmie-Johnson-Team-Lowes-Racing-48.asp?team=4&amp;bhcp=1">Jimmie Johnson</a>.</p><p>Senate Majority Leader <a href="/dome/profiles/tony_rand">Tony Rand</a> noted that there are 28,000 jobs in racing in North Carolina, not to mention a new <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASCAR_Hall_of_Fame">Nascar Hall of Fame</a> in Charlotte. </p><p>He also noted that it was Jimmie Johnson&#39;s Monte Carlo that Gov. <a href="/dome/profiles/mike_easley">Mike Easley</a> crashed in 2005. </p><p>&quot;That&#39;s the ultimate sacrifice for racing, I reckon, let the governor tear your car up,&quot; he said.</p><table border="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td width="155">&nbsp;</td> <td valign="top" style="padding-top: 12px">Rand on Nascar</td> </tr></tbody></table></div> <div class="node-blog-teaser-footer"> <div class="node-blog-teaser-comments"><a href="http://projects.newsobserver.com/blogs/speed_week_meets_speed_week#comment"><img src="http://www.newsobserver.com/images/front_new/icon_discussion.gif" width="11" height="7" border="0" /> Comments (0)</a> <!-- If permissions, display edit link at end of teaser --> <!-- End edit link code --> </div> </div> <!-- End check for Teaser Toggle --> <!-- BEGIN AUDIO ATTACHMENT CODE --> <table width="100%"><tr> <td width="155"><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=7,0,0,0" width="200" height="35" id="audioplayer" align="middle"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="sameDomain" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.newsobserver.com/content/multimedia/flash_audio/audioplayer.swf?mp3TotalTime=00:20&mp3Name=http://projects.newsobserver.com/sites/projects.newsobserver.com/files/Rand-Nascar.mp3"/><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#ffffff" /> <embed src="http://www.newsobserver.com/content/multimedia/flash_audio/audioplayer.swf?mp3TotalTime=00:20&mp3Name=http://projects.newsobserver.com/sites/projects.newsobserver.com/files/Rand-Nascar.mp3" quality="high" bgcolor="#ffffff" width="200" height="35" name="audioplayer" align="middle" allowScriptAccess="sameDomain" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" /></object><br></td> <td style="padding-top:12px;" valign="top">Rand on Nascar</td> </tr></table> http://projects.newsobserver.com/blogs/speed_week_meets_speed_week#comment crossover Hendrick Motorsports Jimmie Johnson Mike Easley Nascar Nextel Cup speed week Tony Rand Under the Dome Wed, 23 May 2007 14:54:04 -0400 ryanteaguebeckwith 752 at http://projects.newsobserver.com