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Hickey Rises To Summit As Gordon's Biggest Fan

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 14, 2007

Updated: 10/14/2007 12:55 am

CONCORD, N.C. - It's tough enough to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Forget about timing it to honor your favorite driver and planting a NASCAR flag at the top.

Patrick Hickey likely qualifies as the biggest NASCAR fan to reach the top of the tallest mountain.

Hickey was at Lowe's Motor Speedway on Saturday night, where he presented the flag to NASCAR president Mike Helton before the Bank of America 500. Hickey also got to meet Jeff Gordon, whose No. 24 Chevrolet was his motivation to reach the summit on May 24.

'I've been a die-hard Jeff Gordon fan for some time now,' said Hickey, a 52-year-old professor of nursing at the University of South Carolina. 'He had heard about me. It was exciting for me and I think it was exciting for him, too.'

Hickey said it was 40 below zero with 40 mph wind gusts at the summit, but the trouble started on the descent. He temporarily lost sight in his right eye and fell several times before making it down safely.

'I was the very last person on the top of the world this year. We barely made it,' Hickey said.

TOYOTA YO-YO: A strong showing at Talladega last weekend sent Toyota soaring into Lowe's Motor Speedway. Then only six of its cars qualified for Saturday night's race - and Brian Vickers, who finished fifth here in May - wasn't one of them.

'We were body-slammed back to reality,' said Lee White, vice president of Toyota Racing Development.

Michael Waltrip was the highest qualifying Toyota at 19th, a far cry from a week ago, when Waltrip won the pole and Camry drivers took the first six spots.

Then Dave Blaney finished third in the race for Toyota's highest finish of the season.

But White said TRD spent almost six months working on its restrictor-plate package, and knew its teams would be stronger at Talladega than they have been anywhere else this season.

The intense focus is partly in advance of Joe Gibbs Racing joining Toyota at the end of the season, White said.

MARTIN'S RIDE-ALONG: For more than a month, former New York Giants defensive end George Martin has walked more than 30 miles a day in a cross-country journey to raise money for 9-11 rescue and recovery workers.

Martin, who has raised nearly $1.3 million so far for those who have suffered medical problems after working at ground zero, stopped at Lowe's Motor Speedway on Saturday. He took a break from the walking by riding along in a stock car at more than 160 mph.

'I didn't know what that was. It kind of caught me by surprise,' Martin said. 'They told me to put on this racing equipment and a helmet. I realized it had been 20 years since I had to wear a helmet and I know what a helmet is for.'

PINK CARS: In the tough guy world of NASCAR, you can go most race weekends without ever seeing pink on the track, in the pits or in the stands.

But thanks to a promotion to raise breast cancer awareness, Bobby Labonte and David Gilliland drove pink cars during Saturday's race.

The drivers and their crews also wore pink firesuits as part of a partnership between Labonte's sponsor, General Mills, and Gilliland's sponsor, M&M Mars, with the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation.

ETC.: David Reutimann of Zephyrhills hit the wall on the second turn of the first lap, bringing out a caution.

The Associated Press

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