Happy 4th! Friday at Daytona.. and McDreamy in the house.

Its a sunny morning here in Daytona.. I am going to get a jog in before I hit the track but wanted to check in. It was an interesting practice yesterday at the speedway – Martin Truex, Jr. had his #1 car confiscated by NASCAR b/c the roof didn’t fit the templates through tech. inspection… he will have no laps other than qualifying in his backup car before he hits the track tomorrow night.  More importantly, he’s concerned about the fines that NASCAR could bring down and if that will impact him in the way of a crew chief suspension, etc… Also, Kurt Busch was running the fastest yesterday but crashed after he cut a tire. They are also running the backup car, same situation…no laps besides qualifying before tomorrow’s race.

In happier news, Mark Martin will be announced as the new driver of the 5 car next season today at noon. He was ecstatic yesterday – Mark will run the full season next year for Hendrick and then the following year will run part time. I ran into him yesterday and he talked about the opportunity being once in a lifetime and how getting just “one win” makes it all worth while. You can still see the want and desire when he talks about his sport. 

Lastly, here’s my missed opportunity for the day. I am a huuuuuuge Grey’s Anatomy fan. I was in the middle of practice, near Kyle Busch’s garage, when my producer Barry gets in my ear and says “I hear Patrick Dempsey is in the garage – he’s right behind you. Go see if you can grab him for an interview because he’s running the Grandam race here tonight.”

First of all, Patrick Dempsey is the actor who plays Derrick on the show, the actor known as McDreamy. He is a huge race fan and so its not odd that he was at the track but I have never seen him in person. But understand that even though I am a professional, asking me to go interview Patrick Dempsey would be like asking Dr. Phil if he wants to interview Britney Spears live on his show. (this is a bad analogy but I’m trying to convey how excited I was about the potential interview..and, I’m definitely NOT trying to compare myself to Dr. Phil) 

At any rate, suddenly, I was on a mission. The problem was, i couldn’t find him. In the midst of the crews and all the hustle bustle, there was no McDreamy anywhere (he looks very different out of the scrubs) – until, finally, someone points behind Jeff Burton’s garage stall and in the middle of the garage lane, I see Patrick Dempsey wearing a black and white hat.. and then, in slow motion (kind of like when my phone fell in the toilet at Sonoma) …  I see my co-worker, pit reporter Ralph Sheheen walking steadily towards him, closing the space between them and in uberslow motion, shaking hands with him at that moment. 

 Bottomline: it is ironic and funny, if you can see it that way, that i couldn’t locate McDreamy in the garage and then finally, when I did, it was too late.. Ralph got to intervivew Dempsey, he did a great job – they joked about how Dempsey would love to try a couple laps in a Cup car and that maybe he could give a cameo on Grey’s Anatomy if a driver would let him take a spin. Great interview, but man…what a bummer.

I shook it off and got back to work, tracking down what was going on in the garage.  So, my next interview was Dale Earnhardt, Jr who had gotten out of his car as his crew was changing packages.. I asked him right before if he had seen Grey’s Anatomy because I was going to ask him on air if he’d let Dempsey drive his car for a guest appearance on Grey’s… Jr. said, “no, haven’t seen Grey’s Anatomy.. I know him from Can’t Buy Me Love.”    Classic.. you have to love that b/c that’s one of the greatest 80s movies of all time..   just thought I’d share. 

Anyway, am going to run. I’ll write more later..

cheers!

Lindsay