March 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Danica Patrick Bristol 2011

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danica patrick bristol 2011Danica Patrick heads to Bristol, coming off her best NASCAR finish ever – fourth place in the Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas on March 5, 2011. She started the race at 22nd.

It was the best NASCAR finish by a woman in 61 years.

Patrick is scheduled to race in the Scotts Turf Builder 300, a Nationwide Series race scheduled for 2 pm on March 19, 2011. The race will take place at the Bristol Motor Speedway.

She will drive the GoDaddy #5 car.

Justin Algaier won last year’s event.

This race is part of Patrick’s 12-race schedule in the NASCAR Nationwide Series in 2011. She races full time in the IndyCar series.

The weekend’s Sprint Cup race, the Jeff Byrd 500 presented by Food City, is March 20, 2011 at 1 pm.

Also filed under: Scotts EZ Seed 300, Danika Patrick

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March 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Dara Torres 2012 Olympics

The 43-year-old Olympian is back in the pool and shooting for the London Games in 2012.

Torres has already competed in 5 Olympic games (1998, 1992, 2000, and 2008).

She won silver medals in three events at 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, in the 50-meter freestyle, 4×100 meter medley relay, and 4×100 meter freestyle relay. At age 41, she was the oldest swimmer to compete in Beijing.

She qualified for 2012 Olympic trials with the United States team with a time of 25.9 seconds in the 50-meter freestyle event at the Missouri Grand Prix, a the University of Missouri campus in February, 2011. Prior to that event, Torres was out of action for 16 months following knee surgery.

The 2012 United States Olympic swimming trials will be held at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Nebraska, from June 25-July 2, 2012.

University of California – Berkeley women’s head swimming coach Teri McKeever will serve as the head women’s coach at the summer games in London in 2012.

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March 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Jeff Byrd 500 national anthem

Popular country music star, actor, and songwriter Billy Ray Cyrus will sing the national anthem at the Jeff Byrd 500 presented by Food City.

The popular Jeff Byrd 500 presented by Food City takes place March 20, 2011.

It is the fourth race in the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup series, following the Kobalt Tools 400 on March 6, which was won by Carl Edwards.

Jimmie Johnson is the defending race winner.

Past singers of the national anthem at the Food City 500 incude 4TROOPS (2010), Ashton Shepherd (2009), Danielle Peck (2008), and Billy Currington (2007).

Cyrus is no stranger to singing the national anthem. Here he sings the national anthem at Lucas Oil Stadium, before the NFL contest between the Indianapolis Colts and the Houston Texans on 11/01/2010.

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March 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Who is Jeff Byrd – Bristol Motor Speedway

The 2011 spring race at Bristol is named in honor of the track’s long-time president and general manager, who died on October 17, 2010.

The Jeff Byrd 500 presented by Food City takes place at the Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee, on March 20, 2011.

Jeff Byrd promoted the track in a time of tremendous growth for NASCAR and the track itself.

Jimmie Johnson is the defending race winner.

This year marks the 50th NASCAR season for the speedway. In addition to the Sprint Cup event, other events that weekend include the Scotts EZ Seed 300 on March 19.

In August, NASCAR racing returns to Bristol for the Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, on August 27, 2011. It is one of the most popular events of the Sprint Cup Season.

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March 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Jeff Byrd 500 green flag time

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jeff byrd 500 green flag time

The Jeff Byrd 500, a.k.a. Food City 500, takes place in Bristol, Tennessee, on March 20, 2011.

Jimmie Johnson, the defending race winner, will look for a repeat victory here and a shot at moving higher in the Sprint Cup points standings. He is in 12th place after finishing 16th in the Kobalt 400 in Las Vegas on March 6, 2011.

What: Jeff Byrd 500 presented by Food City
Where: Bristol Tennessee
When: 1:00 pm ET, March 20, 2011
Green flag time: 1:13 pm ET
Television: FOX, 1:00 pm, with pre-race show at 12:00 noon
Radio: PRN, with coverage beginning 12:00 noon
Defending champion: Jimmie Johnson (2010 purse: $199,978)

Past champions include:

2010 – Jimmie Johnson
2009 – Kyle Busch
2008 – Jeff Burton
2007 – Kyle Busch
2006 – Kurt Busch
2005 – Kevin Harvick
2004 – Kurt Busch
2003 – Kurt Busch
2002 – Kurt Busch
2001 – Elliott Sadler
2000 – Rusty Wallace

The NASCAR Sprint Cup points leaders heading into Bristol are as follows.

1 – Tony Stewart
2 – Kurt Busch
3 – Carl Edwards
4 – Juan Pablo Montoya
5 – Ryan Newman
6 – Paul Menard
7 – Martin Truex, Jr.
8 – Denny Hamlin
9 – A.J. Allmendinger
10 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

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March 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Big East Tournament 2011

The Big East Tournament 2011 pits the best men’s teams from one of the toughest NCAA conferences in the nation. The winner gets an automatic spot in the 2011 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

What: Big East Men’s Basketball Tournament 2011
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
When: March 8-12, 2011
First round: Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Second round: Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Quarterfinals: Thursday, March 10, 2011
Semifinals: Friday, March 11, 2011
Championship: Saturday, March 12, 9:00 pm ET, televised on ESPN

As of Friday, March 5, 2011, the top five teams in the Big East were:

1 – Pittsburgh (14-3), ranked #5 nationally
2 – Norte Dame (13-4), ranked #7 nationally
3 – Louisville (12-5), ranked #11 nationally
4 – Syracuse (11-6), ranked #12 nationally
5 – St. John’s (11-6), ranked #15 nationally

The conference boasts a staggering 8 teams in the nation’s top 20 ranked teams according to the AP Top 25. The others were Georgetown (17), Connecticut (16), and Villanova (19).

West Virginia is the defending 2010 Big East Champion.

In a nationally televised contest on March 5, 2011, #19 Villanova will take on #5 Pittsburgh, at 4:00 pm ET on CBS. Pitt can secure the top seed in the Big East Tournament with a win over the Wildcats. The Wildcats have lost 3 straight and five of their last seven.

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March 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Kristen Hertzenberg National Anthem

Before the green flag drops, Kristen Hertzenberg will sing the National Anthem at the Las Vegas Kobalt Tools 400 on Sunday, March 6, 2011.

Kristen is currently playing Christine Daae in Phantom: The Las Vegas Spectacular at The Venetian in Las Vegas, Nevada.

A Houston native, she studied voice and opera at the University of Texas and the Longy School of Music (Cambridge, Massachusetts).

The Kobalt Tools 400 is the third major race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season, following two weeks after the Daytona 500 and just one week after the Phoenix Subway Fresh Fit 500.

It has been over a decade since the inaugural race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, in 1998.

In 2010, Jimmie Johnson won the Shelby American here, driving a Chevrolet and taking a purse of $405,628. It was his fourth major win at the track.

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February 7, 2011 By 3 Comments

Worst Super Bowl 2011 Commercial: Kia Optima “One Epic Ride”

OK, so maybe it’s not the worst of all time, but it has to rank right up there among the most disappointing.

Despite over-the-top animation and special effects, this Super Bowl 2011 commercial left us empty and scratching our heads.

Poseidon, aliens, Mayans … remind me why they’d be interested in the Kia Optima? I like to fancy myself something of a student of mythology, but I just don’t get significance of the references.

I have to say, though, that it features what has to be the most beautiful luxury yacht (the “Desire”) ever depicted in a Super Bowl commercial. See if you agree.

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