It’s still the Budweiser Shootout, but the traditional non-points prelude to the Daytona 500 will have a different look and feel Saturday night.
With a record 28-car field, including several drivers who wouldn’t have qualified under the old rules, the 31st Shootout will seem more like an exhibition race than an all-star race.
Defending champion Dale Earnhardt Jr., for one, doesn’t like it.
“It just (stinks), because I’m such a historian of the sport,” Earnhardt said…Â More info
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When tragedy struck a Girl Scout troop here, the girls stepped up to help a fellow scout’s family.
Troop leader Jennie Perrottet, 44, of Berlin Township, had a massive heart attack early in the morning on Jan. 14.
“What happened to my troop leader was tragic,” said Caitlyn Sullivan, 13, of Berlin Borough. “Earlier that night at our meeting she was fine as can be. We were talking about what to do with the cookie money and where we were going. She was going to take us on a four-day white-water rafting trip.”
They quickly decided to sacrifice the proceeds from their annual cookie sales for the rafting trip to help Perrottet’s family…Â More info
The North Shore surfing scene was relatively quiet throughout the month of January, so several events are hoping for a rise in February.
Among the contests that could run this month:
• The HIC Pipeline Pro Trials men’s surfing contest is expected to run at the Banzai Pipeline today, organizers announced late yesterday.
Wave heights of up to 18 feet have been forecast, so organizers hope to run the one-day contest.
The event features several of Hawai’i’s top professional surfers. The top performers will receive invitations to the Billabong Pipeline Masters in December…. More info
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Greg MacGillivray (“Everestâ€) is slated to direct a feature-length documentary examining 50 years of Hollywood surfing movies with a major focus on 1978’s “Big Wednesday.â€
The documentary will explore the troubled production and release of “Big Wednesday,†which John Milius wrote, directed and produced.
“It’s really about how Hollywood’s superficial view of surfing culture has influenced popular culture and the story of what happened when real surfers tried to change that,†MacGillivray said… More info