White House invites go out to J.J., other Chase drivers
Friday, Jul. 31, 2009
AP
Jimmie Johnson celebrates after winning the NASCAR Allstate 400 at the Brickyard auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Sunday, July 26, 2009. (AP Photo/Tom Strattman)
LONG POND, Pa. - Reigning Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson is finally going to get his White House visit for winning the 2009 title but he's going to have company.
The White House press secretary's office announced late Friday that President Barack Obama will host a gathering Monday afternoon on the South Portico of the White House with Johnson, all the members of last year's Chase for the Sprint Cup field as well as some former series champions, including Dale Jarrett and Darrell Waltrip.
Also on hand for the 4:30 p.m. meeting will be one of Johnson's No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets.
Typically, the Cup series champion gets a visit to the White House but Johnson's visit had been delayed by Obama's transition after winning election last November.
NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said White House officials inquired this year about opening the invitation to other Chase drivers and former champions.
The Charlotte Observer is pleased to be able to offer its users the opportunity to make comments and hold conversations online. However, the interactive nature of the internet makes it impracticable for our staff to monitor each and every posting.
Since charlotteobserver.com does not control user submitted statements, we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted on our website. In addition, we remind anyone interested in making an online comment that responsibility for statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not The Charlotte Observer.
If you find a comment offensive, clicking on the exclamation icon will flag the comment for review by the administrators, we are counting on the good judgment of all our readers to help us.
@Nyx.CommentBody@