Gil on Letterman Tonight!

[Liz]

David Letterman continues his excellent practice of having the Champ Car Champion on his show, and tonight's your chance to see what Gil looks like as a comedian. Watch him -- and let Letterman know you watched him!

[paulzinho]

I take it Mr Hornish Junior or Mr George will NOT be appearing?

[Liz]

They were planning on it, but Max ran them off the road into the wall.

[Jay]

aahh...Thanks Max!

I wonder if Dave will ask any questions about next year....

[Liz]

FedEx SERIES CHAMPION DE FERRAN HEADS TO NEW YORK CITY FOR GUEST APPEARANCES ON CBS' LATE SHOW, EARLY SHOW AND $500,000 CHECK PRESENTATION TO WTC RELIEF FUND

DETROIT (November 7, 2001) - Reigning CART FedEx Championship Series champion Gil de Ferran arrives in New York City today to kick off his Victory Tour that will be highlighted by national appearances on CBS' Late Show With David Letterman and The Early Show as well as a special $500,000 check presentation to a designated World Trade Center relief fund.

De Ferran, who became only the fourth driver in CART history to win consecutive series crowns, will begin the Victory Tour on Wednesday (11:30 p.m. ET) with a guest appearance on The Late Show With David Letterman at the fabled Ed Sullivan Theater. It will mark de Ferran's second appearance on the show, having made his first visit when he claimed his first FedEx Championship Series title for Marlboro Team Penske last year.

"It's been a whirlwind since I won the championship in Australia and probably the highlight of this whole time will be a visit to Dave," said de Ferran, who clinched the championship in Surfers Paradise, Australia with one race remaining in the season. "It's extremely enjoyable since Dave is a big race fan and I love New York."

On Thursday, de Ferran will be a guest on The Early Show as part of his day-long schedule of visits to media outlets. He is scheduled to appear beginning at 8:07 a.m. ET and is set to present a $500,000 check on behalf of the CART community to a WTC relief fund that aids the victims of the Sept. 11 tragedy. Championship Auto Racing Teams announced the donation Sept. 15 as it prepared for the renamed American Memorial 500 race at EuroSpeedway in Lausitz, Germany. The donation was equivalent to the race purse to symbolize the day's activities were to benefit the relief fund.

"I am quite honored to be chosen by our group which is the CART community to make such a special presentation," de Ferran said. "We were all in Germany during the September 11 tragedy and separated from our friends and families in America. It was a difficult time for us but we as a group are pleased that we can contribute to rebuilding lives and the fabric of New York City."

De Ferran also will be the host of a special media luncheon at the Hard Rock Café during his day of activity that includes international, national and local media appearances.

De Ferran will experience a educational yet somber morning Friday when representatives of the WTC relief team give him a tour of Ground Zero - the actual site of the World Trade Center towers - like several other athletes and sports teams before him.

"I wanted to see Ground Zero with my own eyes to get a full understanding of the magnitude of what occurred to New York City and America," de Ferran said. "I think it is important to confront reality as close as possible to get a true understanding."

Following his tour, de Ferran will head to the New York Stock Exchange as a special guest of the Exchange's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dick Grasso. De Ferran is planning a special presentation to Grasso from his championship-winning season.

"I really looking forward to this visit since I am extremely interested and fascinated for the financial world," de Ferran said. "It is quite an honor for me to tour one of the most famous places in the world and I cherish the opportunity."

He will close out the day with a visit to ESPN Studios in Bristol, Conn. for several guest appearances on the sports cable network's various media entities. He is tentatively scheduled for segments on ESPN News, RPM 2Night, Dan Patrick's radio show, RPM radio show and an on-line chat on ESPN.com.

Over the course of his week, de Ferran will have been interviewed by more than 30 television, newspaper, magazine, radio and internet media outlets.

Busy boy, my Gil!

[macdaddy]

Gil just got done with Letterman, and I didn't know he could be a funny guy. Always seems so serious, but he's got a good sense of humour going.

Dave was up front and to the point, asking deFerran about the team's plans for next season. Playing the diplomat, Gil just said he'd be driving for Penske, and driving to win. Acknowledged that the team is in the news nowadays, but added that no decison has yet been made. Obviously he's under a gag-order.

[Liz]

But I think it is encouraging that he didn't say "The announcement will be made by Roger" or something else that indicated that the deal had been done. I thought it sounded as if perhaps nothing is final yet. (It's still my opinion that this has to do with the engine deal and it will be resolved by a recission of the decision and castigation of Toyota.)

And I thought Gil handled very well Letterman's obvious disappointment that his own team's fortunes had been rudely upset by Gil's magical pass (and wasn't it great to see that again?)

Gil will be on the Early Show tomorrow about 7:30 a.m. (CBS) to present the cheque from Champ Cars. I'll be watching!

[KC]

The Gil deFerran interview on the Early Show has been moved to tomorrow (Friday the 9th).

[Jimmyz360]

I saw him ...he was quite humorous...I think a lot of hosts find it hard to interview race car drivers for lack of how u say "funnieness". Gil did put some good laughs in there, but I was sad to hear him just following Roger blindly. He is a road racer...going to ovals all the time would be boring.

[Jay]

I saw him on Letterman...and I'll give full points to Letterman for asking Gil the questions on the minds of all Cart fans that were watching...Gil did all he really could and played Mr. Politian by evading the questions...

I am almost positive now that Penske are leaving..Gil said he'd be with Penske next year, and said he did not know where he'd be racing...hinting it won't be in Cart... Penske may not have put out an official press release yet, but it doesn't seem to be such a secret around the rest of the Cart paddock...

[paulzinho]

After reading Liz's post, Who said CART wasn't popular? The media attention he seems to be getting is huge, does the IRL champ get this coverage?

[Liz]

IRL? Champion?

Jay, I think Gil said he didn't know where he'd be racing BECAUSE THE DEAL HAS NOT YET BEEN DONE. And no doubt when it is done, Penske wants to make the announcement himself, and Gil is mature enough not to blurt it out on TV. But I'm glad Letterman asked him anyway and perhaps this will put on pressure to get the situation resolved one way or the other.

Gil will be a failure on ovals and a year in Brand X Racing will ruin an otherwise successful career. But it is his career and not mine, so my opinion doesn't count.

Ratz.

[KC]

Paulzinho, nearly every major media outlet in North America has claimed that CART is full of drivers no cares about, racing cars no one can identify with, and racing in places no on wants to go. They have been crying this so long that the people who don't like the series hang this on them as the truth. they have been singing the death knell for the last 10 years and now it has become so common a stance that it is a self fulfilling prophecy. If you scream the sky is falling long enough and loud enough, the lemmings will begin to beleive it.

[Jay]

Liz I really hope you're right... It wouldn't be good for Cart if Penske left, but at the same time I don't think it would kill the series by any means...they still have the best racing product in the world (IMO) and all it needs is a bit of leadership....

Gil may not be the best on ovals, but his failure in IRL (if it happened...and I'm not sure it would..) would not take away from his great Cart career....one doesn't win two championships in a row without some talent...and a good car .

[Raoul Duke]

I will be hugely dissapointed if Gil blindly follows Roger to go from a good competitive racing series to the inferiour IRL. He's to good for that.

I get incresingly frustrated with the lack of recognition that Cart recieves. And I'm tired of all this "open wheel racing is ****" BS you get from certain Nascar fans . Some people wouldn't know a good racing series if it hit them straight in the.......umm....never mind .

[Liz]

Jay, we will keep on hoping that Gil and his team remain with the big kids for next year and right now we're just as likely to be right as the next guy. I'm already casting a glance round the teams to find a new group to support (probably Newman-Haas now Mikey is gone) just in case. But except for Nazareth, Gil has never won on an oval and has usually crashed out before the end or finished around 8th. He isn't an oval driver. He's a European trained driver.

[Laagri]

Originally posted by Liz
But except for Nazareth, Gil has never won on an oval and has usually crashed out before the end or finished around 8th. He isn't an oval driver.

Erm, Liz, didn't Gil win at Rockingham by making an amazing last corner passing move on another European-trained non-oval driver - Kenny Bräck? Or did I miss something?

[Liz]

Oops.

Colour me bright red! Of course he did.

[paulzinho]

And what a move it was!!!