CNN's Malveaux reporting that Bush stayed for entire race...

[Cooley Hurd]

...she said, "He got the pleasure of seeing Earnhardt Jr win the race."

I saw AF1 take off long before the end of the race.

LIARS!!!!!

[Richardo]

1. He's got nothing better to do but watch guys turn left for three hours?

Everything must be solved! Woo hoo!

[NewJeffCT]

3. but remember, no time for funerals

This man certainly has his priorities straight!

[jmowreader]

11. When you start watching a race, never, ever stop watching until the end

Dale Earnhardt died on the 200th lap of the Daytona 500. Two years before, he lost Pocono because he was bumped on the last lap. His last win came because he passed 18 cars in two laps at Talladega. Terry Labonte lost a Bristol race because he was bumped on the last lap. The first televised Daytona 500 ended in a big fistfight in the infield because of a last-lap bump. And IIRC, Richard Petty won at least one race on his roof. You have to stay to the end because on the last lap, they basically figure whatever happens, happens.

[Richardo]

16. Sounds like all you really need to do is watch the last 20 minutes...

...sort of like hockey, basketball and soccer. :shrug:

Note: I am not making light of Dale Earnhardt's death, which was a tragedy no matter WHEN in the race it happened.

[Flubadubya]

14. He's got time to watch the cactus grow...

on his Crawford ranch for over a month at a time while pretending to be Commander in Chief. What's a few hours playing with race cars?

[Bucky]

2. Maybe he stayed to watch the race while Air Force One took off to get some

munchies for the gang.

[Richardo]

4. HA! Beer run!

:D

[11 Bravo]

6. So that's what * meant when he said, "I'll fly if you buy."

n/t

[Screaming Lord Byron]

5. He was hedging his bets, just like the Superbowl.

He wanted plausible deniability should any nipples hove into sight.

[[e-mail]]

7. And he called the winner...

....at the conclusion of the race. This mornings Daytona Beach Journal has a picture of AF1 taking off behind the speedway as the race is in progress. This same newspaper, routinely criticized as being "liberal, devotes 4 separate pictures of Bush, one big picture of AF1 taking off and one small picture of the winner of the race on it's front page. Central Florida media widely reported him leaving the race about half-way through.

[Cooley Hurd]

10. If I were a NASCAR fan, official or race participant...

...I'd be deeply offended by Bush's photo-op and all the trouble (i.e. extra security, etc.) it caused. Clearly, he has no interest in NASCAR (or its fans) or he would've stayed for the entire race.

This is similar to the time he kept the USS Abraham Lincoln at sea a few extra days (and keeping crewmen away from their families after the longest carrier deployment since the end of WW2) for his carrier stunt. He gives not one shit about anyone but himself.

[carpediem]

8. Tampa papers are reporting his plane landed at 4:18 in tampa

I don't watch racing - is the race over by then?

[jmowreader]

15. Not possible, and it's a good thing

NASCAR.com says the Daytona 500 took 3 hours 11 minutes. The race telecast started at 1:30; there's always an hour or so of pre-race stuff to go through. This year they had a lot to go through--the tires are different, they're running Sunoco fuel instead of Unocal fuel (don't laugh--a lot of people bought Unocal gas because it was the official fuel of NASCAR), there have been off-season crew changes, Pontiac isn't in NASCAR this year--so the green flag probably dropped at 2:30. 2:30 plus 3:11 is 5:41.

Guess what, folks: they have televisions on Air Force One! NASCAR probably told them to get him out of there before the race ended because you know the little chickenhawk would have wanted to go to Victory Lane for the celebration and he would have made the whole thing about George W. Bush instead of about the winner. He would have been in every photo. He would have drunk all the victory champagne (or victory Budweiser in this case; part of Junior's sponsorship contract with Anheuser-Busch states that he loses his sponsorship if he's seen drinking any alcoholic beverage not made by Anheuser-Busch--and all they make is beer) and smoked up all the victory cigars. He would have ruined it for the winner, and if he could have done it he would have gone to today's Daytona USA car-enshrinement ceremony (the entry blank for the Daytona 500 says you are required to loan the winning car to the Daytona USA museum, so they can display it until the next running of the 500) and ruined that too.

So what probably happened is the Secret Service pumped him full of Budweiser, the Official Beer of Alcoholic pResidents, took him to the special Presidential restroom on Air Force One, and once aboard hauled ass before he figured out what was happening. There are so many drunks at a race, who's going to notice one more?

[[e-mail]]

9. NASCAR millionaires in Bush's pocket

Gee, why do you suppose that before, during and after the race, every driver and team owner interviewed had nothing but glowing things to say about Bush? You don't suppose that's it's because Bush's economic policies favor the ultra rich, like Nascar drivers and team owners, do you? Naw, that wouldn't be it, I'm sure..;-)

[lucidmadman]

12. He was hyp-mo-tised by the circling cars...

:crazy:

[bluedog]

13. A LIE Per CNN Sports

The president watched half the race from a suite above the start-finish line, but left early to beat thousands of revelers pouring out into the Daytona Beach streets. While the cars circled the 21/2-mile track, the 747 lifted off from behind the second turn.

Bush gave the winner a telephone call after the race.



http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/racing/specials/daytona500/2004/02/15/bc.car.nascar.daytona50.ap/index.html

[frylock]

17. iirc, af1 took off at about lap 116