It’s sunny and working on warm at Phoenix International Raceway for the last and feature event of the three-day NASCAR weekend. Sunday is the second-to-last NASCAR Sprint Cup Race To The Chase – the 25th Annual AdvoCare 500. KYLE BUSCH/No.18 Toyota has the pole position, while the top two Chase contenders start further back. Points leader, JIMMIE JOHNSON/No.48 Chevrolet, will start twenty-fourth, and contender BRAD KESELOWSKI/No.2 Dodge is further up the grid, in fourteenth place. There will be no secrets from these two competitors. In the garage, they are parked side by side, based on their points standing. However, TONY STEWART/No.14 Chevrolet has the Number One garage, based on his 2011 Cup Championship.
Sunday morning the prestigious Jim Chapman Award for Excellence in Motorsports Public Relations was presented by MICHAEL KNIGHT to JUDY KOUBA-DOMINICK and NANCY WAGER of Team Chevy. “Judy and Nancy are truly deserving of this honor because their professionalism is in the example and spirit of the late Jim Chapman. Like Jim, Judy and Nancy believe in the ‘old-school’ approach to working with the media – that is essential to build one-on-one relationships with journalists.” Well done, Miss Judy and Miss Nancy.
DR PAUL KOZAK of Phoenix has been the Medical Director at Phoenix International Raceway for the past 19 years. His Day Job is in Emergency Medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale. He is also President of the Arizona College of Emergency Physicians, and spends time promoting its goals through political channels. Kozak just finished a chapter on “Motorsports Medicine” for a new book – “Medicine in Challenging Environments” which is being compiled by DR. JAN STEPANEK, an Internest and aero-nautical specialist at the Mayo Clinic. The book will be available next year, in an e-book edition available through Amazon.
On top of all that, Sunday morning at the daily track services meeting, Dr. Kozack was presented the Service Master Clean Extra Mile Award “In Recognition of Outstanding Service and Dedication.” The award was from the Service Master Clean, the Official Cleaning & Restoration Partner of PIR. Evidently the awards were started in 2010, and 30 have been presented at race tracks around the country. Well done, Dr. Paul.
The garage area is all a bustle with everyone making ready for the noon start of the race.
