By RAY BUCK
rbuck@star-telegram.com
Ryan Newman stands out from the pack this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.
Trust me, he’d rather not ... certainly not because of some horrific crime that took place 170 miles south of here at the U.S. Army base at Fort Hood on Thursday afternoon.
Thirteen dead. Lone shooter. No motive.
A punch to the gut, Eddie Gossage called it.
But it had to be Newman, the driver of the No. 39 Chevrolet with U.S. Army as its primary sponsor, who addressed the Fort Hood shootings.
"The big picture ... we’re thinking of everyone down in Fort Hood, with the U.S. Army and their families. They’re going through some very difficult times," said Newman before taking any media questions on racing and wrecking.
Newman is more than just a 31-year-old driver of a race car with a black U.S. Army paint job. He’s a driver who takes his sponsor to heart.
Newman wasn’t directly connected to anyone involved in Thursday’s Fort Hood tragedy, although he added, "I know people that know people that were involved."
Crew chief Tony Gibson put it best when he stood behind the No. 39 car and said, "We feel more privileged than anybody in this garage area. A lot of [teams] might have bigger or flashier sponsors, but they don’t have any better sponsor.
"We feel close to the U.S. Army ... [and] to see someone take the lives of these men and women who fight for our country, it’s just not fair. Every lap we make here will be in remembrance of the people whose lives got taken away at Fort Hood."
On Friday, veteran NASCAR owner Richard Childress reminded us this is a "patriotic sport." Just look at the crowds it draws.
Childress was in Houston for a Shell Oil event when the news broke.
"First thing you say is, how could something like this happen?" Childress said. "But more and more you listen to it, these are the kinds of things in America today that we’ve got to keep from happening."
Added Newman: "Unfortunately, ... whether it’s in the U.S. Army [or] in a convenience store, it’s a part of life."
TMS president Gossage has launched a full-scale plan to reach out to the Fort Hood community.
The words "GOD BLESS OUR FORT HOOD TROOPS" — complete with the U.S. Army logo — have been emblazoned across the infield close to the "pit out" area. The tribute measures 40 by 40 feet.
Flags are set to fly at half-staff. All TMS workers are wearing black ribbons. A moment of silence will be observed before the start of all racing this weekend.
Gossage knows one thing: "You can’t do enough." But he’ll try.
"Race fans bleed red, white and blue," he said. "Demographically, people who fight for our freedom are the same kind of people, with the same kind of values, who attend NASCAR races."
Racing is fun; observing a tragedy on a military base is anything but that. Gossage will try to strike a balance this weekend at TMS.
"It’s why they fight for us to do the things we do as Americans," Gossage said.
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