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Getting Ready for The Great American Race

This Sunday is the 51st running of the Daytona 500 and that means that there will be lots of smiling come race time on Sunday. Whatever day the Daytona 500 occurs on every year is like a holiday for me and my brother. I have lots of stuff to get ready and plenty of cleaning here in the basement as I prepare to welcome folks over to watch the race.

As I write this, I understand that not everyone is a NASCAR fan, so let me help you understand why you should watch the 500 on Sunday...

Everyone enjoys a big event. Whether it's a competition, an awards show, a brand new season of your favorite TV show, or even a reality television extravaganza, there's almost always a big television event that someone will enjoy.

Most guys and a lot of girls all across America enjoy watching sports. For many there is nothing bigger than the World Series, the Stanley Cup finals, the Final Four, WrestleMania, the Masters, the BCS Championship game, or the Super Bowl. All of those are examples of the biggest event that their respective sports have to offer.

Every February, there is a 10 day period of time that captivates millions of people known simply as Speedweek at Daytona. The event takes place at a magical place. This place is one where time can stand still, where history lives and breaths all around you. Here you can feel 50+ years of excitement, passion, triumph, and tragedy swirling around you as you bask in the glory of these hallowed grounds. This place is the Daytona International Speedway.


After the preliminary events have taken place over the first nine days, the main event is set. The greatest race in the world. The Daytona 500. Since it's inception in 1959, the Daytona 500 has become an annual tradition of great racing and great racing moments.

In the first Daytona 500, Lee Petty sped toward the finish line in a side-by-side battle with Johnny Beauchamp, a hiccup finish made even more complicated by the fact that Joe Weatherly, two laps down, was wedged in beside the two leaders. The three cars crossed the finish line in a dead-heat blur. Who won? Nobody knew. It was too close to call. It took three days of studying still photos of the finish before NASCAR president Bill France Sr. finally proclaimed Petty the victor. The margin of victory was determined to be 24 inches, give or take.


The 2007 edition of "The Great American Race" was another barn burner that came right down to wire. Kevin Harvick, driving for the same team who's driver died in the race six years prior to the day, edged out Mark Martin for the win in a finish that saw a major crash happen as the top 2 crossed the finish line. The margin or victory? Mere inches. Two or three at the most. NASCAR now measures the margin of victory using how many seconds it takes the second place finisher to cross the finish line after the winner. Using this formula, Kevin Harvick beat Mark Martin by 0.020 seconds. This was the closest finish in the Daytona 500 since Lee Petty won in 1959.


Last year was the 50th Daytona 500. In celebration of this race's history, NASCAR gathered all of the living winners of the 500 on stage to honor their status as Daytona 500 Champions.


Over the past 50 years, there have been many other memorable Daytona 500s. Each running is special in it's own way. As an event, you can't get any bigger. It's a brand new season of your favorite TV show since it's the start of the NASCAR season. It's a competition where drivers, cars, and crews are pitted against each other in an effort to be the best at managing all three well enough to beat the other drivers, cars, and crews. It's a reality television extravaganza where emotion is raw, tempers flare, and at any given moment someone could make a mistake and the consequences could be as little as an inconvenience or as big as the loss of a life. Finally, it's an awards show where the man who can survive and do it faster than anyone else rolls into Victory Lane and gets his name enshrined in immortality as the winner of the Harley J. Earl Trophy, signifying that he will forever be known as a champion of the Daytona 500.


As the days pass coming to the 51st Daytona 500, I will be watching lots of Speed Channel. I'm so ready for this race. It's time to reach up, pull those seatbelts tight, and brace yourselves for what could be another great Daytona 500! Wanna join me?

R.I.P. Billy Powell - Piano Player for Lynyrd Skynyrd

R.I.P. Billy Powell
Piano/Keyboard
June 3, 1952 - January 28, 2009

Billy Powell passed away yesterday morning. Another Rock & Roll legend has joined those that "belong to the ages."

Billy started taking piano lessons as a young boy. He was such a natural that his instructor stated that she was not needed. He was that good. After starting high school in Jacksonville, FL, Billy was introduced to a young fella by the name of Leon Wilkeson. After he was done with high school, Billy enrolled in a local community college where he majored in music theory. He played music with some local groups and was also did work as a roadie for an up and coming band called Lynyrd Skynyrd for about two years.

One night while with the band members, Billy sat down at a piano and played a piano rendition of a song that Skynyrd had been playing called "Freebird." After hearing Powell do his thing on the keys, lead singer Ronnie Van Zant said, "You mean to tell me, you've been playing the piano like that and you've been workin' for us for (over) a year?" Billy replied, "Well, you know, I've been classically trained most of my life." He was then informed that not only had they been searching for someone to play the keys, but that they felt he was the man for the job. Not long afterward, Lynyrd Skynyrd hit it big and soon became a household name. From 1973 until 1977, Powell and the rest of the Skynyrd boys blazed a musical trail across the world, becoming a planet wide sensation as they brought their brand of southern rock to the masses.

It all came crashing down, literally, as the band was involved in a fatal plane crash that claimed the lives of their newest guitar player, Steve Gaines, and the leader/front man for the group, Ronnie Van Zant. Billy suffered severe facial lacerations, almost completely losing his nose but was otherwise relatively uninjured. He was the first released from the hospital and was the only member of the band able to attend the funerals of the fallen.

In the first decade following the crash, Billy briefly joined a Christian rock band named Vision. Powell often spoke during the concerts about his newly found faith in Jesus Christ. He still claimed Christ as his Lord and Savior at the time of his passing.

In 1987, the surviving members of Lynyrd Skynyrd went on tour with some former members who were not with the band at the time of the crash, and with Ronnie Van Zant's younger brother Johnny on vocals. The tour went fairly well and the group continued to tour up through January 2009.

Since 1987, nearly all of the members of the original group have passed away. The group that has gone on with the name Lynyrd Skynyrd is far from the real thing without Ronnie's direction and guidance, but for whatever reason, Billy and original guitarist Gary Rossington have contributed to the tribute band since 1987.

Billy Powell suffered what is believed to have been a heart attack yesterday morning shortly after 12:00 AM. He was pronounced dead at 1:52 AM. He is survived by his wife, Ellen, and his son, Brandon.

Billy was a legend and had a legendary story to tell. Today, he is hopefully reunited with all those Skynyrd members who have already gone on. In remembering Billy Powell, we also take a moment to reflect on those other friends who have left this world.

Ronnie Van Zant - Lead Vocals
January 15, 1948 - October 20, 1977

Steve Gaines - Guitar
September 14, 1949 - October 20, 1977

Allen Collins - Guitar
July 19, 1952 - January 23, 1990

Allen died from complications of an automobile accident that occured in 1986.

Leon Wilkeson - Bass
April 2, 1952 - July 27, 2001

Leon had apparently been suffering from chronic liver and lung disease; the cause of death was deemed 'from natural causes.'

The surviving members of the original Lynyrd Skynyrd band are: Gary Rossington - guitar, Ed King - guitar, Bob Burns - drums, Artimus Pyle - drums.

Billy Powell in 2003. The last time I saw him perform in person.

A Christmas Prayer...

Today is Christmas. Most importantly it is the day in which many people celebrate the first advent of Jesus Christ. For most of us it also is a time to celebrate family and be with our loved ones. It is no different for me.

This morning I am watching Fox and Friends on the Fox News Channel. They just showed a video package that really pulled on my heart and caused this bearded boy to cry. It was a video of families greeting their loved ones. Loved ones who have been away from their families in a far away land for a long time. These men and women who were welcomed home for Christmas by their husbands, wives, kids, and other loved ones are members of the United States Armed Forces.

These folks are just like you and I, except they have committed their time and their lives to establishing, protecting, and defending freedom at home and abroad, even on Christmas Day. Some of these are men and women who have not seen those they love for a long time. Instead of gift-wrapped presents, they have and will receive bullets fired at them and mortars raining down around them during this time when we celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace.

Some have been busy defending freedom and liberty instead of celebrating the birth of a child they have never seen or instead of mourning a family member who has passed on while they are away. Some have been establishing a political culture of democracy in the Middle East while their wive struggle with not having a husband around to fulfill the role of a husband and their kids struggle with remembering what it feels like to have daddy at home, giving them a hug, and tucking them into bed every night.

My prayer for Christmas is this:

Lord God - I thank You for Your love and Your grace. I thank You for the gift of your Son, Who set aside His glorious life in Heaven so that He might come to earth, bring glory to You, and to make permanent atonement for those who You chose before the foundation of the world.

As all good things flow from You, I also thank You for the opportunity to be with my family on this day. However, there are those who are unable to be with their loved ones for various reasons during this Christmas season. I ask that You would be their comfort in this difficult time and that You will allow them to be with their families again. Most of all, I recognize that You are the Sovereign Ruler over all of creation and that nothing happens outside of Your direction and/or permission, and with that recognition I ask that Your will be done and that everything that ever happens will bring glory to You in the end.

Once again, I thank You for everything that is, was, and will be. I love You and I look forward to the day when I can spend Christmas Day with You in Your presence. I say and ask these things in the most beautiful name of Jesus...Amen.

As for those of you who are reading, have Merry Christmas and Soli Deo Gloria!

The Peaceful Transfer of Power - Air Force One. Dallas TX, November 22, 1963

In our first edition of "The Peaceful Transfer of Power", we will take a look at the first swearing-in of Lyndon Baines Johnson.

On the morning of November 22, 1963 Lyndon Johnson was the Vice President of the United States under President John F. Kennedy. Johnson was chosen by Kennedy to be his V.P. candidate in 1960 to help his campaign win the southern states in the country. As a Catholic from Massachusetts, JFK knew that if he was going to win the Presidency he would need a man with Johnson's southern reputation like Johnson to get the votes he needed. Kennedy and Johnson won the election of 1960 and went on to the White House.

Johnson, a member of the House of Representatives from Texas from 1937 to 1949, and a Senator from Texas from 1949 to 1961, was used to getting alot done in the halls of congress throughout his political career. One he ascended to the Vice-Presidency, however, he was held under with no real power and little to no influence in the JFK administration.

In late November of 1963, Kennedy was already campaigning for reelection in the vote of '64. He chose to go to Texas and capitalize on his association with the "hometown boy." On the afternoon of November 22, Kennedy's Presidential motorcade rolled through the streets of Dallas amid the cheers from a crowd that Kennedy held in the palm of his hand. Riding with President & Mrs. Kennedy was Texas Governor, John Connally and his wife, Nellie. Vice-President Johnson rode in a car behind the President's.

After turning onto Elm St. heading into Dealey Plaza, Nellie Connally remarked to President Kennedy "Mr. President, you can't say Dallas doesn't love you." Right after these words were spoken, shots rang out from crowd noise and blood splattered everywhere in the Presidential limousine. The President had been hit and it was looking gruesome. The motorcade swiftly got out of Dealey Plaza and rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital. Once inside, the medical staff did all they could to save the young President, but it was too late. At 1:00 PM CST, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was pronounced dead. Johnson was at the hospital at that moment.

The U.S. Constitution provides that should the president die or become disabled while in office, the "powers and duties" of the office are transferred to the Vice President. Thus, at the moment of President Kennedy's death, Lyndon Baines Johnson became the President of the United States.


After leaving the hospital, President Johnson and a small group of reporters rushed to Love Field in Dallas where Air Force One was parked. Johnson had been on the phone with Attorney General Robert Kennedy (brother of the slain President) moments earlier and was told to take the oath before getting airborn. Once inside the plane, Johnson requested Federal District Judge Sarah Hughes of Dallas to come to the plane to administer the oath. With her husbands body now on the plane, the newly widowed Jacqueline Kennedy sent word that she wished to attend but needed a few minutes to compose herself.


Mrs. Kennedy entered the conference room aboard the plane, still in the two-piece, blood stained, pink wool suit she had worn in the motorcade. Johnson took her gently by the hand, placing her to his left. Mrs. Johnson stood on his right. With the heat inside the plane being unbearable, Johnson asked for a glass of ice water. A Bible could not be found on the plane but President Kennedy's personal catholic missal was found and was prepared for Johnson to place his hand upon. Once the microphone and the cameraman were in place, Johnson placed his left hand on the missal and raised his right and Lyndon Baines Johnson took the Presidential Oath of Office.


The days following this historic moment were filled with sadness, confusion, and questions. It is my personal belief that President Kennedy's assassination was orchestrated by Johnson and a group of conspirators. Regardless, Johnson has been looked on by Democrats with high regard and historians rank him fairly well.

Today at Love Field, there is almost nothing to remind us of the historic events that transpired in it's bounds. The area where Air Force One sat there is now a part of a DHL shipping operation.

The plane, SAM 26000, then known as Air Force One, was retired from serving Presidents in 1998. It is now a part of an exhibit on Presidential aircraft at the National Museum of the United States Air Force where it has been opened up for tours. The interior has been restored to it's appearance during the Johnson Presidency.

The Peaceful Transfer of Power - Introduction

On January 20, 2009, Barack Hussein Obama II will (weather permitting) stand on the West Front of the United States Capitol and take the Oath of Office to become the 44th President of the United States. Ever since George Washington became our nation's first President, every man to hold the highest elected office in our land has marked his ascension to power by reciting the following 35 words as prescribed by the United States Constitution.

"I (, full name typically inserted here,) do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

This ceremony and all of the hype that usually comes along with it is often referred to as The Inauguration. As of 2008, the Presidential Oath of Office has been recited by 42 different men on 69 different occasions. Five of those times, the Oath was taken twice by the same man to initiate the same term for different reasons between the five occurrences. 24 different locations have played host to the event in or around 10 different buildings and 1 aircraft. These locations have been in 6 different cities, in 4 different states and 1 federal district.

With all of this information, you can probably tell that the Inaugural ceremony has not always been as "cut and dried" as it may seem. Certainly the Inaugurations we see on TV today have been well scripted events but it is not always so rehearsed. Death, weather, mystery and other circumstances have made the history of taking "the Oath" an interesting subject for me to study over the past month and now I will begin relaying some of these interesting little facts to anyone who cares to read my blog. Starting with a new blog later today we will take a look at every Presidential Inauguration by location. We will start with the one that took place the furthest away from the West Front of the United States Capitol and work our way around to the place where President-Elect Obama will presumably stand to take the Oath of Office. Stay tuned for later today when we take a look at what may have been the least "peaceful transfer of power" this country has ever seen.

It is Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is upon us again. Personally I am celebrating my 24th Thanksgiving and it's been 387 years since the traditional first Thanksgiving at Plymouth Plantation in Massachusetts.

As I reflect on the year and the years gone by I could compile a huge list of the people, places, and things I am thankful for and to. I'll not list everyone/thing, but here is a short list.

I am thankful to our sovereign God, not only for what He does for me, but what he does to me most of all. I am thankful for God's sovereignty over all things.

I am thankful for/to my earthly family.

I am thankful for/to my family that God has so graciously grafted me into.

I am thankful for my job. It's not much, but it's more than some people have.

Now for a short list of specifics...

I'm thankful for...
- my Dad: that he is still with us for another Thanksgiving and has always been a real life super hero to me. Even in all of his weakness, his strength and God's strength in him shine through brighter than ever.

- my Mom: for being strong when no one else can be and for holding everything at the home front together.

- The Young (Ryan, Hillary, Kenzie, Riah, and Truth) and the Edwards (Aaron, Danielle, Natalie, and the to-be-born/unnamed baby) families: for welcoming me into their lives and for being wonderful examples of Christ in this world and in my life.

- Boo: for being the best big brother I could ever have. Even though you prayed for me to be, you are just as much a blessing to me.

- Joe: for being my other "big" brother. It's an honor and a privilege to know you and to be considered your friend. Thanks for letting me share in so many of your life experiences and for having me over to play Rock Band all the time :)

- my nieces (Savannah and Jaclyn) and nephew (Jordan): for keeping things light and just being kids. They force us all to be a bit younger.

- my cousin Starla: for all of her prayers, love, and friendship. She's always been there when I needed her, regardless of the many distances between us.

- Brandon, Josh, Matt, Kat, Mel, and Johnny: you guys help me stay sane and have been the some of the best friends God could have given me. Even if we don't hang out and talk everyday, I know that I can count on you guys to have my back if I needed you to stand beside me in a fight or to catch me if I fall.

...and with slight humor I also add...

Harmonix: for creating such a fun game to play whether it's just me or it's with friends.

I'm thankful for you taking the time to read this, and till next time, be thankful...