There’s a car on the White House lawn. What will the neighbors think?
Wednesday was NASCAR day at the White House, as President Barack Obama welcomed Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson and several of his competitors to the South Lawn. And Johnson brought along his favorite toy, the No. 48 car.
“You know, it is not every day that we have a championship stock car parked out on the South Lawn,” said the president. “Fortunately, we got Jimmie to agree not to do any burnouts or tear up my backyard. I also suggested to Jimmie that, in exchange for free parking, he should let me take the 48 out for a few laps. He said that was fine — but Secret Service didn’t think it was fine.”
Joining Johnson in the (mostly Republican) cadre of current and former drivers were Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Greg Biffle, Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Dale Jarrett, Rusty Wallace, Darrell Waltrip, Bobby and Terry Labonte, Juan Pablo Montoya, Denny Hamlin and Richard “The King” Petty.
“With a family tradition that’s generations strong, the Pettys are about as close as you can get to a NASCAR dynasty,” Obama said, adding that NASCAR is a “uniquely American sport,” going back to “moonshiners rac[ing] on the sands of Daytona Beach during prohibition.”
Also on hand were soldiers from Walter Reed and campers from the Victory Junction Gang Camp for ill children, founded by driver Kyle Petty.
Photo: Carrie Devorah
