For those so inclined, a full transcript of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s press conference yesterday at the Dallas Convention Center -- where, as predicted, he became a PepsiCo pitchman -- is available here. How long did this thing last, anyway? Because the transcript's as long as the Pentagon Papers.
Among those who spoke, of course, was Eddie Gossage, president of the Texas Motor Speedway, who seemed to think TMS had something to do with Earnhardt's big payday yesterday:
Eddie Gossage sure is, ah, folksy. --Robert WilonskyThis is just another one of those steps of affirmation of the role that Texas Motor Speedway and the Dallas-Fort Worth market plays on the national motor sports scene today.
A couple years ago, we're having a conversation, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and I were. He told me that when he was older and sitting on his front porch with his grandkids and started to tell them the story about his racing career, that it would start with Texas Motor Speedway. It's where he won his first Busch Series race. It's where he won his first Cup Series race.