Obama Switches From Hoops to Hubcaps

Did you hear this? Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama, known for his jumpshot along the campaign trail this year, is broadened his sports focus.

According to Tom Bowles at SI, Obama has cut a deal with BAM Racing owner Beth Ann Morgenthau to sponsor their #49 Sprint Cup car at Pocono on August 3. The first Presidential candidate in history to sponsor a race car. Well, he IS promising change, so I guess this is at least a start.

The drawback for this Baracecar (I came up with that one...) - Ken Schrader is behind the wheel. The #49 car has to qualify for Pocono on speed alone, because BAM is outside the Top 35 in owner points.

The deal itself has not been made public yet, but BAM is holding a presser on July 23 to "unveil" the sponsorship. Wait a minute, aren't we the ones doing the unveiling?

Win or lose, this will be good for NASCAR. People from all around the nation will have their eyes fixed on Pocono. It is yet to be determined whether this will be good for Obama or not. I mean, Kenny Schrader? You could have done like George W. Bush did in 2004, and let a REAL driver have you on his car...Kirk Shelmerdine. Only difference here is - Shelmerdine put Bush's face on for free. Obama's the first to use money out of his own pocket.

Let's hope Obama's "Get Out The Vote" campaign helps the BAM #49 "get out of pit road."

I'm not usually this deep, just deep in it. Trust me.

--John V. Wood

((Nelson Note- Yeah, J-Dub, but I heard Schrader donated to Republican causes in the state of North Carolina. And how exactly does Schrader feel about driving to the left all the time, anyway? You can't have BAM Racing without O-BAM-A...))