The first time it happened was the year Dubya got re-elected. Why mess with a winning formula?
NASCAR knows its audience and has set up a near-perfect pairing Sunday when President Trump gives the command of “Start your engines,” as the grand marshal of the Daytona 500.
Trump will be the second president to be the grand marshal. George W. Bush had that honor in 2004.
…The marriage of NASCAR fans and the Republican party has long been in place. Many of the RVs parked in the spacious infield have Trump flags flying on the top of their vehicles. There are life-size cutouts of the president and Trump look-alikes at the races this week. — MSN
You know it’s a natural match, seeing the chilly reception that Hillary’s husband got while he was in office:
Trump’s re-election campaign will air an ad on Fox’s coverage of the race. And in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race, Joe Nemechek had a Trump/Pence 2020 logo on his car.
By contrast, in 1992 Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton was grand marshal of a NASCAR race at Darlington, S.C. He was roundly booed wherever he went and drivers had to be persuaded to have their picture taken with him. Clinton was widely criticized by the crowd as being a “draft dodger.”
When Clinton gave the start command, the crowd was chanting “Bush, Bush” for incumbent President George H.W. Bush. Winner Darrell Waltrip showed up in the winner’s circle wearing a “Bush/Quayle ’92” pin. — MSN
It gets better.
If they can work out the logistics, the President’s Limo (the one the Media, but not the Secret Service like to call ‘the Beast’) will take a lap on the track before the race:
The White House is working with NASCAR officials for Trump to do a lap on the Daytona track in Florida to start off the racing season on Sunday, sources told Fox News White House correspondent John Roberts, who said the plan is “not 100%” as the logistics are still being worked out.
SCOOP: Multiple Sources tell @FoxNews that @realDonaldTrump is planning to take a lap at the @DISupdates Daytona International Speedway in the “Beast” presidential limo ahead of the Daytona 500. It’s not 100%, but that is the plan at the moment.
— John Roberts (@johnrobertsFox) February 15, 2020
Trump plans to attend the Daytona 500, which marks the start to NASCAR’s 2020 season, on his way back to Washington, D.C., after a weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. A Trump campaign adviser leaked plans for the stop earlier in the week.
“It’s the base,” a Trump campaign adviser said. “God-fearing, country-loving Americans.” — WashingtonExaminer
God-fearing, country-loving Americans.
Yes, that IS his base.
And it drives the media crazy.
