Down by 3 points to Carl Edwards in the Sprint Cup Series standings, Tony Stewart won the Ford 400 – the final race of the Chase – yesterday to tie Edwards, marking the first time in NASCAR history that the season ended at a draw. Fortunately for Stewart, he had 5 wins on the season to Edwards’ 1, which means that Smoke is the 2011 Sprint Cup Champion. And that’s awesome for Stewart and his fans, especially how he won in dramatic fashion after sucking for a good chunk of the year, but nobody cares about that today.
The other, much more scandalous story out of the Homestead-Miami Speedway is that First Lady Michelle Obama and Vice President Joe Biden’s wife, Jill, hosted a barbecue for some military service members and their families before the race, and that’s awesome because I love anything that honors our soldiers and shows them some appreciation, whether it be some ribs and burgers at the racetrack or slow grinding against Mila Kunis.
So of course when Michelle and Jill – we’re cool like that – were introduced to the crowd before the race, they were booed. YOU GOT YER POLATICKS IN MAH VROOM VROOMS!
The pair — who co-chair the Joining Forces initiative — stood beside retired Army Sgt. Andrew Barry and his family. Barry was wounded in action in Iraq and Afghanistan, retired from the military in 2009 and now volunteers at an Orlando veterans center, the announcer said. He received resounding applause.
A source traveling with the first lady downplayed the incident, telling ABC News there was no discernible booing during the “loud chaotic program with jets flying over and tons of noise.”
(Via ABC News)
Honestly, if you’re surprised by this, then you’ve never been to a NASCAR race. I’m not saying that it’s acceptable, nor am I collectively condemning NASCAR fans into a stereotype, mainly because I am a NASCAR fan and love going to the Daytona 500. I’m also a big fan of Michelle Obama because she wants to slap the fried food out of our fat kids’ mouths. But whoever planned this basically left the door wide open for this response.
Maybe next time just invite Joe Biden himself so he can at least challenge the booing fans to keg stands.
