Hot dogs, The Fridge, and racing at Chicagoland
Team SIRIUS Advance -- Tropicana 400 at Chicagoland Speedway
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (July 9, 2003) -- Quite frankly, the NASCAR Winston Cup Series is heading to Chicago at a good time for the city and its citizens. Right now, they're all embarrassed.
Embarrassed because one of the Windy City's most famous sports stars, the 400-pound, ex-Chicago Bears standout William "The Refrigerator" Perry, was soundly defeated by the 130-pound Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi in the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest last Friday, and it wasn't even close.
The score: Tsunami, 44 hot dogs; Refrigerator, 4 hot dogs. Some foreign ambassador "The Fridge" turned out to be.
Thank God for racing, because Chicago has a reputation uphold, and The Fridge isn't helping. Sunday's Tropicana 400, on the other hand, should. The 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway will be feature a sell-out crowd, high speeds, and hopefully two grooves of racing. Room to pass is a delicacy for Jimmy Spencer, who did a lot of it last week at Daytona. Behind the work of Tommy Baldwin and the SIRIUS Dog Pound, Spencer started 40th and finished 12th in the Pepsi 400. It was a much-needed top-15 for a team that is still searching for consistency.
As the series heads to the Windy City for the Tropicana 400 (2:30 p.m. EDT on NBC), Team SIRIUS driver Jimmy Spencer discusses the upcoming weekend at the track, and he offers his thoughts on The Refrigerator's humiliating defeat.
Team SIRIUS driver Jimmy Spencer's thoughts:
Jimmy, now that you've had a day or two to think about the progress this team made at Daytona, how would you summarize the performance of the SIRIUS team?
"I was really impressed with this race team. Our goal was to get things turned around at Daytona. We had a difficult month starting at Dover, and it lasted all the way through Sonoma, and we were searching for answers. Then we qualified with a provisional at Daytona last week, and we were like, 'Oh no, not again.' The Pepsi 400, for us, started on Friday, not Saturday. Qualifying doesn't mean a whole lot at Daytona because of the draft, but you've got to have a good handling car to do well in the race. Tommy, Trip (Bruce), Canuck (Mike McCarville), and all those boys got the car handling good, and by the end of Friday's second practice, we knew we had a piece that was going to be in contention as long as we didn't get wrecked. We would've liked to finish in the top 10, especially since I could've passed any of those leaders with the car I had. But we'll get them next time. We'll work on our fuel mileage, try to get some more horsepower out of our engine, and give 'em hell when we go to Talladega."
Now that Chicagoland has a few races under its belt, has a second groove set in yet?
"I hope so. Chicago and Kansas are a lot a like (both tracks are three years old), and we saw in the truck race last week at Kansas that there were definitely two grooves. That's important for the fans. When fans buy the tickets, they expect to see a good race. When there is only one groove of racing, and all the cars ride single-file to prevent from wrecking, it's no good for the fans. Last year at Chicago we saw the groove widening. As the track ages, those grooves will really start to set in. I'm looking forward to a good race this weekend."
It's shaping up to be another hot weekend, as most of these summer races are. How does the heat affect you at a track like Chicagoland?
"I'm just used to it. When you've been driving as long as I have, the heat just becomes part of it. But that doesn't mean it's a non-issue. I just try to keep focused on what I've got to do on the race track. When you're a driver, you have a job to do. I don't think (crew chief) Tommy Baldwin or any of the other guys want to hear me gripe about how hot I am. They've been working on the car all weekend in 90 or 100 degree weather, so they don't need me to forecast it."
Have you ever been so hot that you were forced out of the car?
"I've never gotten out of a car because of heat. That's something I can honestly say, and I would venture to say most drivers are the same way. But I've seen a lot of them need help getting out of the car. Sometimes you can't even get out of the car you're so hot."
Now for the most crucial question: As an American, how embarrassed were you to see The Refrigerator get smoked in the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest?
"It's pretty upsetting. My miniature schnauzer can eat four hot dogs in her sleep. The only thing I can figure is that while the Japanese kid was pounding bare-bones hot dogs, The Fridge was dressing them up with chili, onions, relish, ketchup and mustard. But it doesn't matter, because the kid ate 44 hot dogs, and from what I hear, that wasn't even close to his record."
Did you hear that some of the competitors actually have sponsors?
"Everyone needs a sponsor these days. Charmin would be a good one in that sport."
