News for March 19th 2010
TOURISM RELEASES “YEAR OF ALABAMA SMALL TOWNS & DOWNTOWNS” BROCHURE
Montgomery, Ala. — The state tourism department has released a brochure that highlights 215 homecoming events taking place during the Year of Small Towns and Downtowns. The 16-page brochure, titled “The Great Alabama Homecoming,” was designed as a quick reference guide to the 2010 celebrations.
The brochure lists the names of the homecoming celebrations, dates of the events and contact information. The events celebrate food, music, birthdays and historic milestones.
The celebrations include Talladega’s 175th Birthday Celebration March 27, the Monroeville Reunion April 23-25, The Blessing of the Fleet in Bayou La Batre May 1-2, Highway 15 Yard Sale in Natural Bridge April 3, Mural City Art Fest in Dothan May 1, Peach Jam Jubilee in Clanton June 25, Jubilee City Fest in Montgomery May 28-29 and the Helen Keller Festival in Tuscumbia June 24-27. The homecoming events began in February and will continue through mid-December.
For more information about the homecoming celebrations, check out the calendar of events at www.alabamahomecoming.com. Copies of the brochure are available by calling 1.800.ALABAMA or at eight welcome centers across the state.
Click here to download a copy of the brochure: http://www.alabama.travel/media-room/brochures/
Edited: March 19th, 2010
Mario Andretti Honored at Legends of Motosports at Barber Track
Mario Andretti will be the honored guest at the inaugural Legends of Motorsports Bobby Rahal Signature Event weekend, scheduled for May 21-23, 2010 at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama.
Legends of Motorsports co-founder Bobby Rahal was a frequent rival of Andretti in the course of their respective, storied careers. The three-time CART champion and 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner said this about his long-time respected nemesis, “Mario Andretti is one of the most formidable race car drivers to ever live. No matter what the series, his talent and determination made him a threat to win every time. It’s an honor to have him celebrated at the inaugural Legends of Motorsports event at Barber Motorsports Park.”
Andretti is one of only two drivers to win races in Formula One, IndyCar, World Sportscar Championship and NASCAR. He also won numerous races in other racing disciplines including midget cars and sprint cars. During his career, Andretti won four IndyCar titles, the 1978 Formula One World Championship, the 1974 USAC Dirt Track Championship and IROC VI. To date, he remains the only driver ever to win the Indianapolis 500 (1969), Daytona 500 (1967) and the Formula One World Championship. No American has won a Formula One race since Andretti’s victory at the 1978 Dutch Grand Prix. All told, Andretti amassed 111 career wins on major circuits.
In addition to on-track competition, the Legends of Motorsports event at Barber will also include a charity gala on the evening of Saturday, May 22, at the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum, featuring Andretti as its honored guest. The museum houses one of the world’s largest collections of Lotus race cars. Much of Andretti’s Formula One glory came behind the wheel of Lotus entries. Lotus also will serve as the official marque for the Legends of Motorsports weekend.
Barring overriding obligations at Indianapolis 500 qualifications, Andretti will be a highly visible part of Legends of Motorsports race day activities at Barber on Sunday, May 23, including leading a featured Lotus race.
Edited: March 19th, 2010
Bobby and Graham Rahal to both race at Barber Motorsports
Bobby Rahal will drive a Lotus in the Legends race that is much like this 1968 Lotus in the Barber Motorsports Museum. (The Birmingham News / Doug Demmons)Bobby Rahal didn’t want his son to become a race car driver. The three-time CART champion and 1986 Indy 500 winner resisted letting him have a go-kart.
“But there was never any doubt about what he wanted to do,” Rahal said Wednesday during a stop at Barber Motorsports Park to promote his Legends of Motorsports Series race in May.
As a youngster, Graham Rahal would accompany his dad to dinners with sponsors and sit quietly, soaking it all in — just as Bobby Rahal did when he traveled with his own father in the 1950s to race at the airport course in Courtland.
Nonetheless, Graham Rahal had some serious convincing to do.
“It took a lot of effort, because with my dad,” Graham said, “it was like he knew firsthand how dangerous it was. And my mom did. And really the only way I could get him to let me go go-karting was my brother and I came up with this plan that we were going to go go-karting together and it was something we were going to do together and the family experience type of thing.
“Well, my brother after basically the first event decided that racing was not for him,” he said. ¶
But by then the die was cast. Graham struck a deal with his dad that he could race if he kept his grades up.
Graham went on to become one of the rising stars of the Izod IndyCar Series. He’ll be at Barber for the April 11 Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, driving for Sarah Fisher’s team in a two-race deal that includes the March 28 race at St. Petersburg, which he won last year. in 2008.
His dad will be racing at Barber too — driving a Lotus in the feature race of the Legends of Motorsports event, a new racing series co-founded by Bobby Rahal that will feature vintage cars from the¤’60s and¤’70s.
The Lotus that Rahal will drive is a car that he sold to a man in California in 1973. Rahal said he tracked the guy down and he still had the car — virtually untouched and stored in a barn all these years. Rahal bought it back and restored it.
So, will there be a friendly competition to see who finishes higher at Barber, father or son?
“Unfortunately, I think he has it a little easier than I do,” Graham said of his dad’s competition. “He’ll try to tell me it’s tough. But the thing is that my dad, he’s just awesome and we were talking about this the other day, talking about (Formula One champion) Michael Schumacher. They both love racing, and my dad, the series he’s put together, I think he selfishly put it together so he could go racing all the time.”
Graham is still looking for a full-time Indy ride this year, a situation that has many Indy fans upset as they see numerous foreign drivers securing rides in the series.
Bobby Rahal said part of the problem is that Indy teams don’t have enough relationships of their own with sponsors, so they depend on drivers to bring their own sponsors.
Graham Rahal said there just aren’t as many skilled open-wheel American drivers as there are in other countries.
“I was talking to someone the other day .¤.¤. asking them why didn’t they have very many American drivers,” Graham said. “Simply put, ‘We’ve tested a lot of American drivers and none have been able to do the job properly.’ (more…)
Edited: March 19th, 2010