The Charlotte Knights are taking NASCAR stars out to the ballgame

    NASCAR stars Michael Waltrip and Joey Logano will each throw out a ceremonial first pitch on Wednesday night at BB&T Ballpark as the Charlotte Knights host the Norfolk Tides. Game time is 7:05 p.m. 

   Gates open at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The first 1,000 fans through the gates will receive a Joey Logano Foundation racing calendar.

   Waltrip, a native of Owensboro, Ky., is a two-time winner of the Daytona 500 and is a pre-race analyst for Fox Sports. Logano, 23, is the youngest winner in two of NASCAR's three national series. The native of Middletown, Conn., is off to his career best start in the Sprint Cup Series with two wins already this season. 

   Single-game tickets for Wednesday’s game against the Tides are available by calling (704) 357-8071; or online at www.CharlotteKnights.com.

Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera joins All-Star Victory Lane celebration

   Chip Ganassi Racing and Jamie McMurray had a special guest in their Victory Lane celebration – Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera.

   Team part-owner Felix Sabates joked Rivera needed to come to more of the team’s races in the future.

   “It’s all new to me but what I thought was real interesting was to watch the teamwork they use, watching how the pit crew worked and got the car back out on the track as fast as possible and the synchronization with which they worked,” Rivera told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio in an interview in Victory Lane.

   “I was looking at it from that perspective and playing a football game. I tried to take something out of it. It was exciting and neat.”

 

   Rivera said getting the at-track experience of a NASCAR race was far better than watching on TV. 

   “You get the real flavor of the excitement,” he said. “When the team has a great pit stop, they’re excited and when they have a bad one, they’re on each other talking about ‘We need to do better.’”

The Tony Stewart tweet heard 'round the garage

   On Friday afternoon, three-time Sprint Cup series champion Tony Stewart became the latest NASCAR driver to join Twitter. 

   There has been an account reserved for Stewart (@TonyStewart) for some time but until Friday, its number of tweets remained at zero.

   Stewart posted a message at 4:27 p.m.: “Ok here it is. I’m doing my part 2 combat global warming because now that I’m officially tweeting, hell is freezing over!”

   Let the fun begin.

Hendrick Motorsports drivers are good, but did you know they may also be super heroes?

 
   Warner Bros. Consumer Products (WBCP), in conjunction with DC Entertainment, has joined forces with Hendrick Motorsports in a three-year agreement to build on- and off-track programs teaming star NASCAR drivers Kasey Kahne, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. with the most recognized characters in Super Hero lore, including Batman, Superman, The Flash and Green Lantern.

   The program will allow the team and its partners to develop consumer promotions and original content to engage youth, drive fan excitement and energize licensed merchandise initiatives.

   The first joint program will come to life around upcoming Sprint Cup Series events at Charlotte Motor Speedway (May 25) and Michigan International Speedway (June 15) where Superman, the world’s first and most recognized Super Hero, will be featured on Earnhardt’s No. 88 Chevrolet SS. 

   The Superman-themed paint scheme will pair the Army National Guard with the Superman Hall of Heroes, a new online gift-giving portal that empowers consumers to honor their personal heroes; those who have made a positive impact on their lives or the lives of others. Earnhardt's No. 88 National Guard/Superman Chevrolet SS paint scheme will be unveiled May 21.

   Future collaborations include  co-developed car paint schemes, comic books and digital content incorporating DC Comics Super Heroes and illustrated likenesses of Hendrick Motorsports drivers. 

Richard Petty statement on the death of his sister-in-law, Patricia Petty

 

   Patricia Petty, wife of NASCAR Hall of Fame crew chief Maurice Petty and sister-in-law to seven-time NASCAR Cup champion Richard Petty, passed away Sunday, May 11.

   Richard Petty offered the following statement:

   "We all love Patricia. She was another cornerstone in the Petty family and was always there for Maurice and allowed us to do what we loved to do. She was just another special part of the family. We'll miss her and give our love and support to Maurice and his family at this time."

Danica Patrick on her career-best finish: 'We work hard for it'

   Danica Patrick finally put together a complete weekend from start-to-finish, running strong in practice, qualifying well and earning a strong finish in the race. In this case, it was a career-best seventh-place finish in Saturday night's 5-Hour Energy 400 at Kansas Speedway.

   Patrick was asked about her weekend after the race:

   "It felt good. My goal was just to stay up in that lead group. Generally average out to where I was starting, and I feel we did all that. I’m really overall proud of the team for building cars like these. This was a new car. It was so good. It shows when the runs were long, I got to show this was a quick car," she said. "I’m so happy for GoDaddy always being behind me. I know that we haven’t had the best of times, but we work hard for it. It’s days like today when this is the kind of stuff that materializes in wins. We’ve just got to keep hanging around and doing what we’re doing. I’m just proud of everyone for working really hard and believing in me."

   Patrick was asked to describe the weekend.


   "Drama free. Jay (Guarneri) said this is what we call putting a whole weekend together. We weren’t great great in practice, but we came through in qualifying. Smart about the changes, Gibson did a good job making changes for the race. It was good from the get-go, what it says even more is two things: Really good on restarts and when it wasn’t quite right. Really good on long runs. That just goes to show this is a new car, and they build a great one. We’ve got more of these coming. That’s the even better news. Overall proud for the team. Kevin (Harvick)’s been a great teammate and helping me out, he was very fast tonight. I was surprised to see he didn’t win, but congrats to Jeff and happy for GoDaddy, who’s always been a big supporter of mine no matter what, and it’s days like today that hopefully makes them smile and start to pay off a little."

NASCAR champ Jimmie Johnson to receive key to City of Charlotte

   
   Six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson will be presented with the "Key to the City" during the regularly scheduled Charlotte City Council meeting on Monday, which convenes at 7 p.m.

   Johnson will be recognized by Mayor Dan Clodfelter for his outstanding philanthropic contributions to the Charlotte region and other parts of the country the Jimmie Johnson Foundation.

   The Jimmie Johnson Foundation was launched in 2006 by Johnson and his wife, Chandra, and is dedicated to assisting children, families and communities in need throughout the United States. To date, more than $6.7 million has been contributed to various organizations. 

   The foundation currently focuses on funding K-12 public education and in recent years has contributed close to $1 million to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg and Cabarrus County school systems.