DEI, Waltrip parting ways at conclusion of season

DEI, Waltrip parting ways at conclusion of season

Veteran driver says he has many options for '06 and beyond

By Marty Smith, NASCAR.COM
July 15, 2005
03:23 PM EDT (19:23 GMT)

LOUDON, N.H. -- Unsuccessful in a six-week quest to agree to terms for a contract extension, Michael Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt, Inc. have mutually agreed to part ways following the 2005 Nextel Cup Series season.

"It's as mutual as any decision has ever been, because of my respect for DEI and the relationships I have there with Richie and Teresa.

"Dale and Teresa and I go way back, so we wanted to be sure that so we didn't take a step back as an organization or as a team for me, that maybe I should try to find something else to do."

Waltrip explained Friday that DEI held the option to renew the deal, with a deadline of May 1. After that, Waltrip was free to seek another job.

So for the past month, the two sides worked diligently to agree on terms, but uncertainties about which individuals would make up his team left Waltrip leery. He opted out, and said Friday he has had discussions with owners about possible opportunities.

He has received no formal offers.

"The way I've performed and the job we've been able to do, I've got a lot of options for 2006," Waltrip said. "I thought I'd drive this car for the rest of my career, and I knew if that was the case, it means I'd be winning races and doing what I needed to do.

"It's sad to say I'm not going to be at DEI anymore.

"We're not really sure what 2006, seven, eight and beyond will look like. But I definitely will be in the Cup Series with a winning team."

Waltrip wouldn't specify with whom he's spoken about future employment, but did make it clear he has no intentions of elevating his Busch Series team to the Nextel Cup ranks.

He is also uncertain whether sponsor NAPA Auto Parts will stay at DEI or go with him to another team, but DEI motorsports director Richie Gilmore said in a statement Friday that the team was working diligently to re-sign NAPA and field a third team in 2006.

"DEI's NASCAR Nextel Cup focus for 2006 will be to sharpen every entity of our race teams by preparing the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, driven by Martin Truex Jr., and the No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr., for the championship," Gilmore said.

"Additionally, we are working diligently with our current partner, NAPA, on returning to the No. 15 car."

Waltrip said he's not sure whether DEI plans to field three cars in 2006.

"NAPA has a lot invested in me and they have a lot invested in DEI, so they were hoping we could figure out some way to stay together," Waltrip said. "They wanted to be with me and with DEI next year. That was their goal.

"But when that became obvious that wouldn't happen, they're faced with a decision of what they need to do. I'm certainly open to seeing if they want to go with me, and at the same time encouraging them to stay at DEI, as well."

McMurray to drive No. 6 for Roush Racing in '07

McMurray to drive No. 6 for Roush Racing in '07

By Marty Smith, NASCAR.COM
July 7, 2005
03:34 PM EDT (19:34 GMT)


Jamie McMurray has signed a multi-year contract to drive Roush Racing's No. 6 Fords starting in 2007, sources close to the driver confirmed Thursday morning.

Roush Racing released a statement Thursday afternoon confirming McMurray has signed to drive the No. 6 car.

Chip Ganassi Racing announced Thursday morning it and McMurray would part ways following the 2006 season.

"Jamie's made a decision to go in another direction after we've both fulfilled the commitment that we made to each other in 2002," team owner Chip Ganassi said in the statement.

"We didn't do a good job of conveying to Jamie where this team is headed, but we expect a lot of success with Jamie the rest of this year and next year, and we wish him the best in his future endeavors beyond that."

Sources said McMurray signed the contract with Roush Racing late last week, and speculation began almost immediately that he was on his way out at Ganassi.

No word has been given regarding an interim driver for 2006, but many feel Roush Racing Truck Series driver Ricky Craven is the team's first choice.

McMurray is currently in his third Nextel Cup Series season, all with Ganassi. His lone victory came at Lowe's Motor Speedway in October 2002 while substituting for injured teammate Sterling Marlin.

McMurray currently ranks seventh in the 2005 championship point standings.

Paris Mayor Says Blair, Coe 'Crossed Line'

Paris Mayor Says Blair, Coe 'Crossed Line'

Mon Jul 11, 6:01 PM ET

PARIS - Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoe says British prime minister Tony Blair and London bid leader Sebastian Coe "crossed the line" by criticizing other cities that were vying for the 2012 Olympics.

However, French International Olympic Committee member Jean-Claude Killy said the Paris bid was weakened from the inside and he was "sickened" by the complaints.

Last week, London was awarded the 2012 Games over Paris, Madrid, New York and Moscow.

"They crossed the yellow line with respect to the IOC rules," Delanoe told France-Info radio Monday after a meeting of the Paris city council.

Delanoe did not offer specific accusations, though two consultants for the British bid were critical of the sightlines at the Stade de France, considered a centerpiece of Paris' bid. Under IOC rules, the bid cities are prohibited from criticizing each other.

However, after reviewing the remarks, Paris officials decided not to complain to the IOC ethics commission. The IOC said it wouldn't pursue the matter.

On Saturday, IOC president Jacques Rogge said none of the cities broke rules designed to stamp out corruption in the bidding process.

Paris bidders were reportedly angry that Blair had met with IOC members in his hotel room in Singapore.

"There's nothing wrong with having a conversation with a major politician from a bid city," Rogge said.

Killy pointed to the last-minute loss of Foreign Minister Michel Barnier — who long worked with the Olympics but was replaced following a government change in June.

And he made a veiled suggestion that remarks in 2003 by President Jacques Chirac, who criticized eastern European nations over their support of the United States in its war in Iraq, cost Paris the votes of members from those countries.

Killy, a World Cup, world and Olympic ski champion, said Paris shouldn't "look for pitiful excuses."

"Imagine trying to obtain today the votes of the east. It's really not easy," he said in an implicit reference to Chirac's criticism of Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic for supporting Washington in 2003 ahead of the invasion of Iraq.

Chirac said it was "not very responsible" or "well bred" of them to do so, adding that "I think they missed a good chance to shut up."

He said that Barnier was "one of the best known and most respected French with the IOC" and added that France has no "international sports presence."

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Bill's Comment: Like the liberals in this country, the French can never accept defeat.

Embattled Detroit Mayor Trails in Poll

Embattled Detroit Mayor Trails in Poll

Mon Jul 11,10:13 AM ET

DETROIT - Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick trailed former Deputy Mayor Freman Hendrix in a new poll, although the incumbent was gaining ground somewhat in a potential two-way race.

Detroit's nonpartisan mayoral primary is Aug. 2. The top two candidates face off in the Nov. 8 general election.

Kilpatrick, who was elected mayor in 2001, has been struggling with a budget deficit and questions about his personal conduct.

Asked whom they support for mayor, 34 percent of those surveyed said Hendrix, 23 percent said Kilpatrick, 16 percent said City Councilwoman Sharon McPhail and 7 percent said state Sen. Hansen Clarke.

The survey, conducted July 5-7 by EPIC/MRA of Lansing and published Monday in the Detroit Free Press, showed other candidates receiving a combined 9 percent. Eleven percent were undecided.

The latest survey showed Hendrix still head in a two-way race, but losing ground to Kilpatrick — with 53 percent favoring or leaning toward Hendrix, 39 percent favoring or leaning toward Kilpatrick and 8 percent undecided.

A late-May poll showed 57 percent supporting or leaning toward Hendrix, 30 percent supporting or leaning toward Kilpatrick and 13 percent undecided.

Both polls surveyed 400 likely voters and had a margin of error of 5 percentage points.

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Bill's Comment: I know that polls are insignificant, but I hope that it gives the citizens of Detroit a beacon of light. We shall see in November.

Chrysler Matches GM, Ford on Discount Plan

Chrysler Matches GM, Ford on Discount Plan

By DEE-ANN DURBIN, AP Auto Writer
Wed Jul 6, 7:27 PM ET

DETROIT - DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group became the last of the Big Three carmakers to slap employee discounts on its vehicles Wednesday, raising the stakes in a price war with a very uncertain outcome.

Under the program, which runs through Aug. 1, Chrysler is offering some Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles at the employee rate plus up to $3,500 cash back. Chrysler is following the lead of General Motors Corp., which began offering an employee discount to customers June 1, and Ford Motor Co., which announced an employee pricing plan Tuesday.

Chrysler also said Wednesday its former chairman and chief executive, Lee Iacocca, who led the carmaker's turnaround in the 1980s, is expected to appear in advertisements for the new promotion. Chrysler's program excludes the Chrysler 300, the Dodge Magnum, Sprinter and Viper and the Jeep Liberty Diesel. All 2006 models and SRT models also are excluded.

GM's sales jumped 41 percent in June thanks to the discount, which allowed customers to buy vehicles for an average of $400 to $500 less than they spent in May. Ford and Chrysler followed after lackluster sales in June.

Quarterly sales results, which will be released in mid-July, will show how much the discount program has cost GM. But Jesse Toprak, an analyst with the automotive research firm Edmunds.com, said early signs indicate the program was cost-effective.

In general, Toprak said, GM paid for the discount by taking away cash rebates and other incentives. GM said more customers were willing to buy rather than lease, which held costs down, and customers also bought more expensive vehicles than they might have because of the perceived savings.

According to Autodata Corp., though, GM spent an average of $4,458 per vehicle on incentives in June, up $449 from May.

Toprak said Ford and Chrysler could have the same success with minimal cost if they follow GM's strategy. Ford already has taken away some cash incentives to help pay for the program, he said.

Still, Toprak said, the Big Three have reason to worry. Consumers might not continue to flock to dealerships as the summer goes on, especially when 2006 vehicles arrive in showrooms without big discounts attached.

GM's program "has further conditioned consumers to expect a big discount when they walk into a GM dealer," he said.

Merrill Lynch analyst John Casesa agreed with that assessment in a note to investors.

"We are concerned that this everyday low price strategy has only set the domestic industry's starting price point a notch lower and in the long run will further erode brand-equity and residual values," Casesa said.

A discouraging sign for the Big Three is that the employee-pricing promotion did little to affect June sales of Asian brands, which continued to climb.

Toyota Motor Corp. spokesman Xavier Dominicis confirmed Wednesday the company has no plans to match the Big Three's discount program. Toyota sales were up 10 percent in June.

"Our outlook is a long-term outlook, and we're seeking sustainable growth," Dominicis said. "Toyota buyers tend not to be the deal-of-the-day buyers. There's a lot of loyalty when you look at our buyers."

Chris Ceraso, an analyst with Credit Suisse First Boston, said the discount programs also could sour relations with dealers. In a research note, Ceraso said the amount GM spent suggests dealers sacrificed thousands of dollars in profit margins in June to help the automaker.

Jim Sanfilippo of Bloomfield Hills-based Automotive Marketing Consultants Inc. said he believes the employee-discount programs could ultimately help U.S. automakers in the 2006 model year and beyond.

U.S. automakers have been trying to get away from incentives and price vehicles more realistically, and this program helps them do that by setting clear prices and letting manufacturers see what consumers are willing to pay, he said.

"Maybe GM erred on the side of generous (in June), but somewhere in there is the sweet spot, where they can make $1 a car or whatever the market will bear," Sanfilippo said. "It's easier to figure that out with pricing than with rebates."

Chrysler shares rose 6 cents to close at $40.16 Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange. GM shares fell 55 cents to $34.22, and Ford shares slipped 5 cents to $10.35.

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On the Net:

Ford Motor Co.: http://www.ford.com/

General Motors Corp.: http://www.gm.com

Chrysler Group: http://www.chrysler.com
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Bill's Comment: It is a sad state of affairs for the American automakers. I would not be shocked if this program gets extended. With all of the gimmicks you see advertised, they are still having problems. Is all of this a lost cause?

Guinness: Pa. Pair Oldest Married Couple

Guinness: Pa. Pair Oldest Married Couple

By Associated Press

2 hours ago

PHILADELPHIA - Herbert Brown, 105, and his wife, Magda, 100, are the world's oldest married couple, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. The Browns' combined ages total 205 years and 293 days, which Guinness said makes them the oldest living married couple.

Other couples have been married longer, and some other individuals are older. In fact, on June 1, Guinness had named an English couple, Percy and Florence Arrowsmith, also 105 and 100 respectively, as the oldest.

The Browns proved they beat the Arrowsmiths by a few days, and then on June 13, Percy Arrowsmith died. Guinness has now certified that Herb and Magda Brown have the distinction.

Herbert Brown and the former Magda Fritz married in their native Austria in 1930. Their lives became dangerous when the Nazis came to power in 1938. Soldiers raided their home. Herb Brown survived time in a Nazi concentration camp, rescued by neighbors who raised money for his release, and was interrogated by the notorious Adolf Eichmann.

The couple fled to England, then came in 1940 to Philadelphia, where Magda worked as a seamstress and Herb worked at a factory sewing shoulder seams on tuxedos.

Their daughter, Trudie Solarz, documented their experiences on videotape for Steven Spielberg's Shoah Foundation.

Today, in assisted living at Harbor View apartments, Magda dresses by 6:30 a.m., with lipstick and pearls, and Herbert, despite fading hearing, is content.

"He doesn't talk much," Solarz said. "But that's nothing new. Mom never let him get a word in."

Betty Lowery, the assistant activity director at Harbor View, where the staff is planning a celebration, asked Magda her secret of longevity. "You have to be happy all the time," Magda says. "Think of life as you want it to be."

Information from: The Philadelphia Inquirer, http://www.philly.com

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Nursing Home Sued in Sexual Assault Case

Nursing Home Sued in Sexual Assault Case

By Associated Press
Fri Jul 15, 4:20 AM

CHICAGO - The family of a brain-damaged woman has filed a lawsuit alleging she was sexually assaulted at a nursing home and is now pregnant.

Attorney Ed Fox said Thursday the 23-year-old woman has been in "a quasi-vegetative state since birth" and can't walk or talk. She was living at the Alden Village Health Facility for Children and Young Adults in Bloomingdale when she was discovered to be 29 weeks pregnant last month, he said. She has since been moved to another facility.

"The woman was clearly raped," said Fox, who is representing the patient's mother in her suit against the nursing home. "Equally outrageous is that they seemed to have concealed the pregnancy."

Jane Amata, an Alden vice president, said in a statement the nursing home is cooperating with the investigation and is "committed to the delivery of quality care."

Employees at the nursing home were providing DNA samples as authorities seek to identify the father, Fox said. He added the child likely will have health problems because the mother has been on medication and received no prenatal care.

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Bill's Comment: What is wrong with people these days?

WWE releases several Superstars

WWE releases several Superstars
July 5, 2005

WWE has decided not to proceed with any renegotiations with Bubba and D-Von Dudley. We wish both Bubba and D-Von the best in all future endeavors.

Also, World Wrestling Entertainment has come to agreements on the release of the following Superstars. WWE would like to wish them the best in their future endeavors.

-Joy Giovanni
-Kenzo Suzuki
-Matt Morgan
-Charlie Haas
-Jackie Gayda
-Marty Jannetty
-Dawn Marie
-Mark Jindrak
-Maven
-Shannon Moore
-James Yun (Akio)
-David Heath (Gangrel)
-Billy Kidman
-Spike Dudley
-Kevin Fertig

Gayda and Haas respond to release-WWE Inside

Gayda and Haas respond to release
By David Agostino
July 7, 2005

It has been a whirlwind summer for Jackie Gayda and Charlie Haas. In fact, June couldn’t have been better for the former SmackDown! Superstars. The new couple was married on June 10 and then enjoyed a beautiful honeymoon in the Antigua, West Indies.

A clearly emotional Gayda, however, was forced to fight back tears as she spoke to WWE.com today about their releases from WWE. “For myself, I kind of put two and two together seeing all the new girls come in,” said a soft-spoken Gayda. “You see all these new gorgeous models come in and you wonder what direction they’re going in. It seems like they were getting away from the women wrestling.”

“It’s a shock,” Haas, a three-time WWE Tag Team Champion, said when reached via phone. “Vince (McMahon) said two weeks ago that some of us would be let go. So we knew it was coming, we just didn’t know who. You wake up one morning and you’re fired. And it’s not just you, but your wife as well. WWE was how we both made a living. I’m just glad they waited until after the wedding.”

Gayda and Haas were among several Superstars let go by WWE, including Billy Kidman, Spike Dudley, Bubba Ray Dudley, D-Von Dudley, Shannon Moore, Kenzo Suzuki, Maven, Dawn Marie, Joy Giovanni and Matt Morgan.

“That’s the way the industry is,” Haas said. “Who knows, maybe in six months we’ll get another look. You never know in this business.”

Haas expects to do some tours in Japan or possibly Italy in the near future. Haas has a college degree and a background in finance, once working on Wall Street, but says he has no plans to trade in his trunks for a suit and tie anytime soon.

“I’m one of the few guys who have that experience and degree to fall back on,” said Haas, who wrestled at Seton Hall. “But I didn’t come this far to give up now. I had a great, crazy run. I met my wife, I met great friends like Shelton Benjamin,
Curt Angle, and Chris Benoit. I couldn't have asked for more."

“This was the first time I’ve been fired from any job and I’ve been working since I was 13,” Haas added. “But when one door closes another one usually opens. The fans should keep looking for my name.”

Gayda, who is just 23, plans on joining Charlie on some overseas tours, but is leaning toward finishing her degree in broadcast journalism and possibly seeking work in that field in the future.

“I was more shocked for Charlie, he put his heart and soul into the business,” Gayda said. “This was such a passion for him.”

Gayda was the Tough Enough 2 Champion in 2002, overcoming a painful leg injury to emerge as the winner.

“In some instances I think I got a fair shot, in other ways, I didn’t,” Gayda said. “I understand WWE is entertainment, but it’s also wrestling, I think women being active and physical can be just as sexy as girls in a bikini. I decided not to do Playboy when I had a chance, maybe that even came back to bite me in the butt.”

Still, Jackie was able to find a true silver lining when reflecting on her WWE experience: Her new husband. In March 2004, Jackie was part of a trade which sent her from RAW to SmackDown! At the time, she was emotionally, professionally and personally drained.

“After the trade, I was in shambles,” Gayda said. “I had all these friends from RAW and now I was going to a new show. I had just broken up with a longtime boyfriend. It was like I woke up a different person. But then I was able to meet Charlie and I was able to get to know him and travel the world together, I wouldn’t give any of that back. God does things for certain reasons.”

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Bill's Comment: Billy Kidman was also released. Brock Lesnar had a meeting with Mr. McMahon today.