Scientology is newest NASCAR sponsor + blurb about JWs ???

Dogpatch

Scientology is newest NASCAR sponsor

from: http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/sports/motorsports/14761999.htm

JEFF ELDER

Staff Columnist

WCNC video | Scientology racing car

Tom Cruise came to Charlotte in 1989 to film "Days Of Thunder." Little did we know that someday his idealogy would come zooming back to NASCAR as a sponsor.

Racin' fans, brace yourselves for some couch-jumping news: Scientology is ridin' shotgun.

A No. 27 red Taurus emblazoned with "DIANETICS" and featuring the volcano from the cover of L. Ron Hubbard's book has been tearing around California's Irwindale Speedway.

(No word on whether the car can fix itself; Cruise recently bragged that wife Katie Holmes needed no anti-depressants for her post-partum depression.)

NASCAR is decidedly reluctant to comment on scientology's sponsorship. "This has generated a lot of interest the past few days," NASCAR PR man Scott Warfield tells me. Not surprisingly, he didn't want to say much more. "It's not really something we want to comment on. It's a minor league, small-team sponsorship deal."

Yes, and it's also the weirdest sponsorship since Boudreaux's Butt Paste, the diaper-rash cream that began sponsoring a Busch Series car in 2005.

Driver Kenton Gray, of La Verne, Calif., will drive the DIANETCS car Saturday in its official debut in a NASCAR Weekly Series race in Irwindale.

Gray spouts Scientology praise with enthusiasm that would make the celebrity couple known as TomKat proud:

"'Dianetics' is a book that helped me in many ways since I first read it many years ago. It helped me get better control over the obstacles I had to get through to reach goals I was passionate about. It's a great honor to have a sponsor relationship that's so directly related to my making it this far." (In a truly bizarre scene in March, Gray appeared at the Irwindale track with the voice of Bart Simpson, Nancy Cartwright.)

The publisher of "Dianetics" is also putting together a Web site called dianeticsracing.com.

The Jehovah's Witnesses could not be reached for comment about any possible NASCAR sponsorship.

Photos of car, driver and voice of Bart Simpson at http://www.fmgracing.com/index.php

LyinEyes

I know nothing about Scientology , nor do I care to ..lol. But,,,,, I am curious, a friend of mine told me they believe that aliens came here and oh nevermind, too crazy to say.
Anyway, I am not a Tom Cruise fan.

Stephanus

You were beaten to the punch, Randy:

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/114647/1.ashx

skeeter1

The JW "blurb" is a mystery.

Scientology = modern day, cult-like religion that has its hand in Mr. Cruise's mind.

So, are JW's considered "fringe" or "mainstream"?

This suggests the media considers the JWs to be similar to Scientology, and less similar to the Mormans.

james_woods

For what it is worth, back in the 30's or 40's the Mormons (or a member therof) sponsored a land speed car called the "Mormon Meteor".

Can't see JW doing this anytime soon - didn't they once write an Awake which decried the "Muscle Car Craze" in the late 60's? They said that gasoline was as dangerous as a stick of dynamite and that a V8 car as dangerous as a loaded gun, blah blah blah...

Never can resist a car thread...James

itsallgoodnow

is the JW blurb for real? if so, that's hilarious!

Panda

The good thing is that this will add another car to the circuit ... I mean who really cares about the sponsors anyway? On the subject of autos, Has anyone seen the tv show from Iraq with Jesse James (the car builder)?

skeeter1

Did Scientolgy & the Society, the two pyramid organizations, secretly merge? Think of the possibilities for the next "Knocking"-style documentary...Tom Cruise as a pioneer, John Travolta as an overseer, and Christie Alley as a dutiful sister! I'm making the popcorn!

Skeeter