Jonathan Martin: Why is McCain in Pole Position? (prepare to qualify!)

Baby, You Can Drive My Car

Among the most recent additions to the Giuliani website is a feature called “Drive 2 Five,” which uses car-racing images and analogies — checkered flags, references to a “road to victory,” an odometer keeping track of new supporters, and a speedometer displaying the upcoming primary timeline — as fundraising tools. And although, we know, FL’s GOP primary — upon which Giuliani’s WH hopes are depending — isn’t on 2/5, which is when the fundraising drive ends, FL is still home to the Daytona Int’l Speedway, a significant population of car-racing enthusiasts … as well as to stock car racing giant NASCAR itself.

Appealing to the NASCAR crowd is a smart strategy for Giuliani, who has already reaped the benefits of doing so earlier in the campaign. According to the New York Daily News, Giuliani secured contributions from the number one and two NASCAR drivers, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, as well as 14th-ranked Casey Mears, in ’07. In addition, a pack of NASCAR execs. “turbocharged his campaign” with more than $20K. Among them were NASCAR chair Brian France, as well as Rick Hendrick, the head of Hendrick Motorsports — “one of the circuit’s most successful teams.”