NASCAR Sued Over Suggestive Rap Video
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My big question is the same as yours... who is the NASCAR higher-up? I have a guess and will be interested to see if I am right when the name surfaces.
Forum Activity for @dave-fulton
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NASCAR Sued Over Suggestive Rap Video
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Two stories in this morning's Charlotte paper caught my attention. One story documented the empty campgrounds at Charlotte Motor Speedway that used to be overflowing on Friday of All-Star weekend. The other story informed of a lawsuit filed by a former Charlotte educator against NASCAR Media Group and NASCAR Holdings (among others). The educator was fired after it was discovered she had given NASCAR Media Group permission to film a rap video featuring nearly nude womenin the boy's locker room of the prestigious Providence Day School in Charlotte. Heck, I didn't even know NASCAR was making rap videos. Shows how stupid and uninformed I am. No wonder the campgrounds at Charlotte Motor Speedway are empty. Between Brian's divorce, the rap music business and the crummy racing, who needs a tanked economy and skyhigh fuel prices to explain empty grandstands. Anyway, here's the story about NASCAR's latest lawsuit:
Ex-school official sues over rap video
Says Providence Day wrongly fired her over steamy footage shot there.
By Fred Clasen-Kelly frkelly@charlotteobserver.com Posted: Saturday, May. 21, 2011
Providence Day School, one of Charlotte's top private schools, fired an administrator after a local rapper filmed a racy music video on campus, a lawsuit says. Kathryn Taylor, a 37-year employee, has filed a lawsuit alleging Providence Day wrongly fired her in 2009 and tried to cover up the termination when officials learned the school locker room was used in a video for rapper Bettie Grind. The suit, filed in Mecklenburg Superior Court this month, also names former Providence Day Headmaster John Creeden and NASCAR Holdings and its subsidiary, NASCAR Media Group, as defendants. Providence Day spokeswoman Jennifer Howe declined comment. NASCAR Media produced the music video for Bettie Grind's single "Dammit I'm Fly." The video shows Bettie Grind, whose real name is Greg Brown, rapping in a straitjacket, a woman stripping to her underwear and other scantily-clad women dancing suggestively. Providence Day, in south Charlotte, is a selective K-12 school with a reputation for academic rigor. Some students have apparently seen the video and recognized the school building. "DUDE thats my school!!!," read one comment on YouTube. In June 2009, the suit says, Taylor was working as the school's director of summer programs. The position put her in charge of scheduling campus events during the summer. Representatives from NASCAR Media contacted Taylor about using the boys' locker room as a backdrop for a video the company was making, the suit says. NASCAR Media told Taylor a "higher up" at NASCAR had a child enrolled at Providence Day and suggested the campus for the video, the suit says. Taylor, the suit states, allowed the company to use the locker room for free after it promised to give Providence Day access to NASCAR personnel at a later date. The suit says NASCAR Media assured her the video would not contain "adult content or explicit material." In November 2009, another school administrator approached her about rumors a music video posted on YouTube had been filmed on campus. The video did not follow the script Taylor had read before the filming, the suit alleges. Creeden, then-Providence Day headmaster, fired Taylor on Dec. 7, 2009, the suit claims. Two days later, the suit says Creeden misled the public by announcing Taylor had retired. Creeden wanted to avoid conflict with parents who would have objected to Taylor's dismissal, the suit claims. The suit alleges that Creeden's announcement made it difficult for Taylor to gain employment at other private schools in the Charlotte area. The suit seeks damages in excess of $10,000 from Providence Day, Creeden, NASCAR Holdings and NASCAR Media Group. Reached by phone, Taylor and her attorney, Fenton Erwin, declined comment Friday. NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said the agreement NASCAR negotiated with Taylor did not spell out the contents of the music video. He said the video followed the script NASCAR Media presented to Taylor. Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/05/21/2313497/ex-school-official-sues-over-rap.html#ixzz1Mzyz9Y3B
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:02:07PM
What Did He Say?
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Haven't you sometimes thought it would be fun to eavesdrop on a conversation between drivers?
For instance, in this photo -
What Is Dale Earnhardt telling Darrell Waltrip?
1) "Don't cut me off at Richmond"
2) "Sure, I'll be at the Big K parking lot"
3) "Junior Johnson asked me to drive for him"
4) "What made you an expert on everything?"
updated by @dave-fulton: 01/08/17 08:08:07PM
J Gordon Has Course for Busch & Harvick
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By golly, that new Jeff Gordon AARP sponsorship is gonna be ok. Bet he can get Kyle Busch & Kevin Harvick a discount on this course. Heck they can do it online right in their motorhomes!
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:02:07PM
YOU CALLED MY MAMA A "WHAT"
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I think back to the days when Cale & DW named each other "Jaws" and "No-Neck". And I remember Humpy Wheeler's publicity stunt at CMS as described in Wikipedia - After becoming the president of Charlotte Motor Speedway, Wheeler earned the reputation for organizing publicity stunts. A few weeks after driver Cale Yarborough gave the less-than-complimentary nickname 'Jaws' to rival driver Darrell Waltrip, Wheeler bought a giant dead shark, placed a dead chicken in the shark's mouth, and had it driven around the track on a flatbed truck before a race at Charlotte (Yarborough's sponsor at the time was Holly Farms Poultry). . I'm sure the tee shirt vendors would love to have these New boys call each other a couple of really good, colorful names.
NOW CHILDREN-----PLAY NICE NOW
Current NASCAR
$25,000 is chump change to those guys and either their sponsor or car owner will probably pay the fine anyway. Too bad Humpy Wheeler isn't still at CMS. For his pre-race show he'd build a chainlink cage at the start finish line, throw those two bozos in it and say, "Have at it boys!!"
30 Years Ago Ridley / Donlavey Scored at Dover
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30 years ago, on May 17, 1981, I had the pleasure to be at the 500 mile Dover race working for Wrangler Racing -the Dale Earnhardt/Rod Osterlund sponsor, when one of the most popular wins in Cup history occurred - Jody Ridley piloting Junie Donlavey's #90 Ford T-bird to victory over all the factory teams. It was a wonderful afternoon for racing. 5 years ago, Tom Higgins did a great column on this feat, which I shall try to post. Being from Richmond, it was extra special to be at Donlavey's only Cup win.
The Junie-Jody Show
It's once again Dover's turn on the Nextel Cup tour, and that inevitably brings back warm memories of Junie Donlavey and Jody Ridley.
Twenty-five years ago in the Delaware track's spring event, the Mason-Dixon 500, the two combined for the only points race victory either ever scored.
And it proved to be one of the strangest triumphs that anyone has posted in the long, colorful history of NASCAR, dating to 1949.
With just 41 laps to go on the speedway nicknamed "The Monster Mile" Neil Bonnett held a two-lap lead over Cale Yarborough. Ridley and Bobby Allison trailed in third and fourth place, respectively, even more laps down.
Then the engine failed in Bonnett's Ford, owned and engineered by Donlavey's fellow Virginians, the Wood Brothers, Glen and Leonard.
Yarborough, driving for Georgian M.C. Anderson, appeared home free for the checkered flag, especially after building his lead to five laps over the now-second place Ridley.
Lo and behold, as the old saying goes, Yarborough's Buick engine blew with 20 laps left in the 500-mile race.
The late Bob Latford, a widely-respected public relations representative for various racing enterprises through the years and a noted NASCAR historian, often said this produced the nuttiest thing he ever saw in stock car racing.
"Cale was sitting in the garage area, smoke and oil pouring out of his car, yet he remained the leader on the scoreboard for several minutes," said Latford, shaking his head. "Jody had to go around the track six times before his and Junie's number, 90, was posted as the leader."
Georgian Ridley, a 38-year-old Winston Cup Series rookie, was flagged the winner in the Donlavey Ford.
Tears of delight flowed freely in Victory Lane.
The gentlemanly Donlavey, immensely popular among his peers, had been racing with NASCAR from the time Big Bill France organized the sanctioning body. And now, after 32 years, he had a checkered flag in a race at his sport's top level. He was was getting the big Dover trophy.
But wait a minute!
Not everyone was happy.
Bobby Allison, listed as the runnerup, and his team owner, Harry Ranier, were officially protesting that their Buick had won rather than finishing 22 seconds behind Ridley.
"We have no doubt that Jody Ridley was a lap down to us," said Ranier.
NASCAR officials pored over the sheets from a relatively rustic scoring system for going on a half-hour. Remember, they didn't have the present-day computer technology available to them at that time.
Donlavey was sweating.
"Waiting to find out what the ruling would be was the longest 30 minutes of my life," he would say later. "You just can never tell how these things are going to turn out."
NASCAR ruled in favor of Junie and Jody.
Then, officials did something strange and unexplained to this day.
They confirmed that for 50 laps during the race there had been what they called "scoring communications difficulty."
Regardless, they felt with certainty that the outcome decided upon was the correct one.
A week later the teams came to the track then known as Charlotte Motor Speedway for a race then named the World 600.
Rain poured down during their first day at the track, washing out a lot of the action.
Despite the dreary conditions, there was a rather constant parade of cheery competitors to the truck that transported the car owned by Junie Donlavey.
They came with hands outstretched to congratulate a beaming Junie and Jody. Included were drivers who had teamed with Junie through his many years--Ricky Rudd, Jimmy Hensley, Dick Brooks, Ron Hutcherson, Harry Gant and Dick Trickle among them.
It was a tremendously touching scene.
The triumph that day at Dover was the only major victory that Ridley was to score in 140 big-time starts.
It was the only one for Donlavey in approximately 725 starts, fifth-most among car owners on the all-time list.
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:02:07PM
Harvick Thinks He's Earnhardt, AGAIN - NOT
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That ole Kevin Harvick illness broke out again last night at Darlington. That wannabe Dale Earnhardt thing. Its been that way ever since Dale died and Harvick was tapped for the Childress ride. Of course, Earnhardt would never have let himself be outmanuevered the way Kyle Busch outmanuevered Kevin after the checkers to wind up behind Harvick on pit road. And Earnhardt would never have been stupid enough to have left his car in the precarious situation Harvick did. He wound up looking like a chump. After watching that missed punch, I think maybe Logano was right about who wears the pants. Harvick punches like a girl... in a full faced helmet no less. When Earnhardt had business to take care of... he just crashed you and went on about his business. For never having been much of a Kyle Busch fan, I think I crossed over to the dark side last night and will pull for him in the future. His driving style is the closest thing NASCAR has to Earnhardt's. Absolutely fearless. We could do without crybabies like Harvick, talented though he may be behind the wheel.
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:02:07PM
It's only 1.5 Million
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What's particularly amazing, is that Howard is the listed car owner of record for 20 Cup wins by Bobby Allison and Cale in 1972 and 1973 in the Jr. fielded Chevy, as well asthe 1971 win credited to Glotzbach at Bristol. Pretty impressive to score 21 wins as car owner while saving a racetrack!