North Carolina State University Athletics
Meineke Car Care Bowl Week Continues
12/29/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 29, 2005
The team practiced in the afternoon today after having a Meineke Car Care bowl event in the morning. The team made its way to Lowe's Motor Speedway for a chance to ride in a NASCAR style racecar as part of the Richard Petty Racing experience in the morning. Most of the players and staff took a turn with three laps around the 1.5 mile speedway at speeds of close to 165 MPH!
Tramain Hall, John Deraney and John Amanchukwu were the first three in the cars to start the morning. Each person had to put on a firesuit, helmet, and neck support system before getting into the car for their turn. The players were anxious to get in the suits and then into the car. They had to be asked to move back into the waiting area and out of the pits they were so excited!
Comments were made often to long snapper William Lee, an avid fan of NASCAR, about getting into the car. Tramain Hall kept shouting "this is what you live for!" as William Lee waited his turn.
Perhaps the comic highlight of day came when it was time for big Curtis Crouch to get in (or should I say squeeze!) his car.
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The players watching laughed and yelled as Crouch slid into the car, then the media in attendance got up close and personal as he attempted to climb back out of the window. Too funny!
Manny Lawson and DaJuan Morgan had a race at the tire changing station, with Morgan easily defeating Lawson. Manny, I believe, blamed it on faulty equipment rather than user error!
Coach Chuck Amato then had a tire changing race of his own with South Florida's head coach Jim Leavitt, with Amato winning twice according to the players in attendance for the competition.
After the outing the players had lunch and headed back to the hotel for segment meetings. They then dressed and headed out to practice around 3:30 in the afternoon, the last full practice before the game. The team will have a walkthrough at Bank of America Stadium tomorrow, but first finished one final day at Charlotte Country Day School.
Every final practice of the season at the bowl ends with a "Senior Hit" session. The seniors get to select a member of the coaching staff to "hit" off of a blocking sled. The staff member stands on the back of the sled, and the players create an alley for the player to run down into the sled. It is great fun, and the guys really get into it. Marcus Hudson went first, and he chose Wayne "Smoke" Hubert, the assistant equipment manager, to ride the sled. Before Hudson ran however, he did a funky riverdance before smacking and driving the sled back a few feet.
Dwayne Herndon went next, and he chose coach Amato to be his victim. Amato was up for the challenge, playfully standing in front of the pad daring Herndon to hit him head on. Willie Young grabbed and held coach in place and Herndon playfully ran down towards Amato. He didn't hit him and Amato moved, smartly, out of the way before the hit.
Tramain Hall had the funniest "call out" as he picked offensive coordinator Marc Trestman with the sentence, "Red rover, red rover, bring Trestman right over." Jay Davis picked his roommate and former player Jed Paulsen to hit on the sled. Davis ran towards the sled and hit the pad hard, appearing to slip and fall on his back. Paulsen then sprayed Jay with a water bottle while on the ground. Rumor has it (Jay told me) that he slipped on purpose because he heard Jed was going to spray him once he hit the pad. I thought he really busted hard and it didn't look like an accident to me.
Amato will finish his day with his radio show, which will be broadcast from Champions inside the Marriott City Center in downtown Charlotte.
