SCENE & HEARD
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Final drivers' meeting
2:44 PM
At the final drivers' meeting of every season, business sometimes takes a back seat to ceremony. That was the case Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, which was full of introductions, special remarks, and one standing ovation.
Boxing champ Lenox Lewis was on hand, as was the reigning Miss Florida, and too many corporate executives to name. Former New York mayor and current Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, making his third trip to a Nextel Cup event this year, saluted the France family. "It's been a difficult year, but you've gotten through it," he told members of a family that lost patriarch Bill France Jr. as well as Dr. Bruce Kennedy, husband of International Speedway Corp. president Lesa France Kennedy. "You have our prayers and support."
Officials also saluted car owner Robert Yates, who will retire after this season. The gathered competitors gave Yates a standing ovation. "I'll probably cry for a little bit," Yates said afterward, "and then I'll wake up [Monday] morning and find something fun to do."
-- David Caraviello
Boxing champ Lenox Lewis was on hand, as was the reigning Miss Florida, and too many corporate executives to name. Former New York mayor and current Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, making his third trip to a Nextel Cup event this year, saluted the France family. "It's been a difficult year, but you've gotten through it," he told members of a family that lost patriarch Bill France Jr. as well as Dr. Bruce Kennedy, husband of International Speedway Corp. president Lesa France Kennedy. "You have our prayers and support."
Officials also saluted car owner Robert Yates, who will retire after this season. The gathered competitors gave Yates a standing ovation. "I'll probably cry for a little bit," Yates said afterward, "and then I'll wake up [Monday] morning and find something fun to do."
-- David Caraviello
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