John Calipari was all set to drive the pace car for the Quaker State 400 yesterday evening at Kentucky Motor Speedway but the race was postponed due to rain.
Even though Calipari will not return today for the 12pm race, he did have a full day of excitement yesterday.
This from Yahoo.com:
His crash-course instruction included 90-mph splits in the rain around the 1.5-mile oval by Busch, which had the coach ”white-knuckled” and holding on tightly on the passenger side as the car came within inches of the outside retaining wall. Fortunately for Calipari, he only has to drive a more comfortable 45 mph ahead of the field.
”When I went 45 (mph), I wasn’t nervous,” Calipari said, ”but when he (Busch) was going 90 and 100 (mph) in that rain, all these grooves are great, I’m thinking, ‘Oh, my gosh.’
”I had one arm on the mirror grabbing it, and the other hand was on the window. He was flying, for me. These guys are used to it, but it was fast. And it was raining.”
Calipari got one perk, a specially-made racing jacket embroidered with the terms ”eight-time” – referring to Kentucky’s eight national championships – and his trademark ”Refuse to Lose” slogan. Drivers also signed the jacket, which will be auctioned for charity.
”I did it like a driver would have,” he said.
Read “Kentucky coach Calipari pace car drive must wait” by clicking here.
Here is Coach Cal’s reaction to his day in Sparta from his facebook page:
Disappointed I didn’t get to drive the pace car tonight because of the weather but still had a blast. After getting behind the wheel for the test drive, I really, really want to drive the pace car one day. The #BBN blew me away today. Our fans were everywhere. Nothing like the Big Blue Nation. Want to thank Papa John and everyone at the Kentucky Speedway for having me. Hope the race goes great tomorrow.
