Top Ten Reasons Why Letterman's Car Won Indy..

[SoCalDem]

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/sports/motorsports/8800981.htm

Posted on Sun, May. 30, 2004





Sportsview: Why Letterman Won Indy 500

JIM LITKE

Associated Press


INDIANAPOLIS - The top 10 reasons why David Letterman got into auto racing and wound up as the first celebrity co-owner to win the Indy 500:

No. 10. - Johnny Carson was a tennis fan, and never considered buying part of a team.

No. 9 - Paul Newman, who has partnered with owner Carl Haas for years, kept hiring one Andretti after another to drive his cars.

No. 8 - As a former weatherman, knew what the yellow blotches on the Doppler radar storm tracker meant and urged driver Buddy Rice into the lead just ahead of the rainstorm that ended the race after 180 laps.

No. 7 - Jay Leno prefers motorcycles.

No. 6 - As a native Hoosier, knew the words to "Back Home in Indiana" and wanted to sing along with Jim Nabors while standing on pit road.

No. 5 - Since no one took him up on a suggestion to rename part of Interstate 465 in his honor, figured he would annex Victory Lane instead.

No. 4 - When he takes the winning G-Force Honda racecar back home to show off, Connecticut State Police won't be able to catch him and hand over any more speeding tickets.

No. 3 - Promised his mom the Borg-Warner trophy to complete her collection of giant-sized silver serving dishes.

No. 2 - Needed something to outshine "Late Show" bandleader and sidekick Paul Shaffer, who is Canadian, just in case Calgary wins the Stanley Cup.

And the No. 1 reason why David Letterman got into auto racing and wound up as the first celebrity co-owner to win the Indy 500: If 8-month-old son Harry runs out of diapers late at night, can make it down to the 7-11 before closing time.

Funny stuff aside, the timing of the win couldn't be better for the business.

great article follows ....snip..


Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at [email protected]

[Awsi Dooger]

1. Another reason: I was too stupid to take 12/1 on Buddy Rice

"Wow, 12/1, that's the highest odds I've ever seen on an Indy polesitter."

That was my quote, for several hours Saturday night at the Frontier casino. The Frontier was stuck at 12/1 on Rice, while larger sportsbooks were already down as low as 7/2.

Locals agreed with my assessment. Tourists agreed. I watched several people make small bets on Rice, from 5 to 50 bucks, after I pointed out the 12/1. At one point I pulled a hundred from my wallet, then stuffed it back in, rationalizing that I never bet on auto racing.