Buddy Baker Diagnosed With Lung Cancer

In a sad piece of news, one of NASCAR's living legends, Buddy Baker, (Elzie Wylie "Buddy" Baker, Jr. (born January 25, 1941)) announced on the air on his SiriusXM NASCAR Radio show that he has been diagnosed with lung cancer, and subsequently, will be stepping down from his SiriusXM shows to focus on his new fight.

Several months ago he had gone in for rotator cuff surgery and the medical staff discovered that it was not his rotator cuff that was the source of his discomfort, but rather, there was a huge tumor in his lung causing the distress.

In a sad telling of the diagnosis, Buddy asked what his chances are with this thing and he got silence in return for an answer.

RIP Steve Byrnes

Man, Steve Byrnes gave many a fan a fantastic television experience while watching NASCAR. And it is such a shame that a thing such as cancer took him, along with anyone else we know. As far as I am concerned, cancer is beatable. The only limitation is the attention it gets from the public.

I've always said during breast cancer awareness month, with an estimated two to four million people watching a race, any one day, we can take but a moment to contribute a dollar. A single, measly dollar. It does not seem like much, but to be honest, if we all ganged up on contributing, we could donate millions to the cause in a single night while watching a race. Or even while mourning a beloved television personality.

Instead of being sad, take heart, stand up and donate in Steve's name, whether his name be on the donation or just in your heart.  I was lucky enough to have met him on several occasions while covering events for On Pit Row. He was quite the man, driven to do his job and make sure the television audience was well informed.

Below is a statement from NASCAR:

"Statement from NASCAR Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Brian France on the Passing of Steve Byrnes

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (April 21, 2015) – “NASCAR extends its condolences to the many friends, FOX Sports colleagues and family of Steve Byrnes. Whether you had the privilege of knowing him or if you watched him on television for the last three decades, Steve’s work ethic and authenticity made him a beloved individual inside and outside the garage.

“His level of professionalism was matched only by the warmth he showed everyone he met. He battled cancer with tenacity, and was a true inspiration to everyone in the NASCAR family. Simply stated, we’ll miss Steve dearly. Our thoughts are especially with his wife Karen and son Bryson during this difficult time.”"

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Steve Byrnes Steps Aside From Broadcasting Again

It's been reported that the very likable sports commentator Steve Byrnes, has once again stepped down from his job as "NASCAR Race Hub co-hosting and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series play-by-play duties for FOX Sports 1" to once again deal with a recurrence of his cancer.

Back in 2013 he was diagnosed with "head and neck" cancer and had "defeated" it, but he's been informed that it has returned.

He's stepping down to deal with his health and to be with his family.

Once you get cancer, you're never fully over it, even if it is an emotional battle within you. It's been the and the fact that it showed up once makes one feel that it could return yet again.

As it has in the case of Steve Byrnes.

We wish him the best in this insidious fight and is a reminder that no matter what the cancer, any financial contribution to help aid the research and development of a cancer killing product is a worthy one.

Sure... it is breast cancer awareness month. But cancer is pretty much cancer, no matter where it occurs. So donating to any cancer society drive is a worthy one.

Keep this in mind...

Even if you think you do not have enough to help, do some math.

If there are around five million people watching a race, and every single one of those five million donated a mere dollar... well, I presume you see where I'm going with this.

So don't hesitate. Every bit helps.

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RIP Lynda Petty

With great sadness, NASCAR has lost one of its royal family.

Lynda Petty lost her long battle with cancer and passed away today at the age of 72.

Our condolences to her family and peers.

A press release from NASCAR:

"“On behalf of the France Family and everyone at NASCAR, I want to offer sincere condolences to the Petty Family regarding the loss of their beloved matriarch, Lynda Petty,” said Brian France, NASCAR Chairman and CEO. “Through the years, Lynda became an integral part of the NASCAR landscape. We have lost a true friend, who will be missed each and every day. Our thoughts and prayers will be with the Pettys throughout this difficult time.”"

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Breast Cancser Awareness: The Pink In NASCAR At Kansas

October is breast cancer awareness month. 1 in 8 women are attacked by this bullshit disease.  Guys, almost two thousand men each year get diagnosed and almost four hundred deaths each year in men, can be attributed to breast cancer.  Do don't turn away from this issue.  It impacts everyone.

{Please note all links in the article point to NBaP's parent website with information on each issue highlighted.  There's more in-depth coverage on the subject of breast cancer at brusimm.com. You can get to where you need to get to from there.}

Even though 1 in 8 doesn't sound like a big number, stop and look around your surroundings right now.  If you see at least 8 women, more then likely 1 of them is dealing with this setback.  If you think about the 8 women in front of you, think about their families and how exponentially that number of women grows.  If no one right in front of you is impacted by breast cancer, someone in their life is.  It's an insidious beast and you don't know how many people around you it impacts until you find yourself and your family in the middle of the battle.  And when you mention it, victims come out of the woodwork you'd never expect.

But despite the glaring numbers, there are a lot of ways to help contribute.

How?

Yoplait Yogurt has a cool program where you can submit codes from certain lids and they'll make contributions.

5-hour Energy sells PINK lemonade flavored products, and proceeds go to the fight against breast cancer.  All you have to do is buy their product and they will contribute a set amount per bottle sold.  They had contributed almost $400k when they first offered the product.  Then they pulled the product but fans spoke up and they brought it and the program back permanently.

Or by just clicking on a link, you make a free mammogram available to a lucky soul who can't afford them.

RCCA Disappoints With Their Breast Cancer Awareness Diecasts

The other night I was looking through one of my latest catalogs from RCCA, the premium provider of NASCAR (and other racing) diecasts and took note of a particular section of the catalog.

You see, October is breast cancer awareness month.  In case you had not noticed, the pace car last weekend at Atlanta was PINK!  And throughout the month, you'll be spotting cars with pink highlights, if not completely pink, in and of itself.

This is the annual drive to make people aware of breast (and any other kind of) cancer that's out there.

One in eight women find themselves diagnosed with breast cancer, and it's a scary situation to find yourself and your loved in, if it ever happens to you.  (To be honest, 1 in 8 is a scary high number.  Go ahead, real quick, think about or look around and count the women in your vicinity...  see what I mean?)

Oh, and if you're a man, don't think you're immune either.

Though the number seems miniscule, or that it helps you think it "won't happen to me," think again, as every 1 in 10,000 men are diagnosed with breast cancer and a man dies every day from it.

Cancer is cancer, and it's a frightening, ugly experience to have to deal with.  It impacts 1 in 3 people.

But people can do many things to help the fight against breast cancer.

Donating to a charity of your choice that fights the good fight is noble.  And don't by shy.  Even a mere $1 can help.  (My premise behind that theory is if everyone watching a NASCAR race would chip in JUST ONE DOLLAR, and say 4million viewers are watching any one particular race, then we, as a whole, can make one hell of a contribution.)

Oh, but wait, so what about RCCA you ask?

I had come across their pink diecast pages in one of their latest catalogs and to be honest, though I'm on a budget, I was preparing to drop a pretty penny on one of their awareness diecasts.

But when I started looking around, I did not see anywhere, where RCCA would donate 'x' dollars from each purchase to the fight.  This is only an awareness campaign for selling pink NASCAR diecasts.  (Unless I totally missed the declaration itself, that is.)

For me, if I'm going to support it and buy stuff, I will only buy from a reputable source (RCCA is very reputable), but also, only from a source who will contribute part of my purchase price to the fight.

Or what the hell, just dig up some sites that deal directly with contributing and go from there.

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National Breast Cancer Foundation
National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Healthline Breast Cancer Anatomy
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So my only disappointment is the lack of contributions to the cause.  Last year, I took note that even though NASCAR was making you aware, they weren't doing much themselves in the contribution department.  It seemed that that premise lay solely on the drivers and teams shoulders.

But that's just me.

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There's more on breast cancer at my parent site, if you're interested.

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5-Hour Energy Donates To The Fight Against Breast Cancer In NASCAR

 -From October 1st and running through to December 31st 2012, if you buy a bottle of the new 5-Hour Energy Lemonade PINK LEMONADE flavor, & Living Essentials, LLC (The distributor of 5-Hour Energy) will donate 5 cents from each bottle sale, to the Avon Foundation for Women Breast Cancer Crusade.

Living Essentials, LLC is already committing a $75,000 minimum donation, but hey, if NASCAR fans can help, lets dig in to help fight the fight against breast cancer, or any cancer for that matter.

There are 9 million bottles of 5-Hour Energy sold each week.  Being that NASCAR fans are dedicated to the sport's sponsors, and accounted for 20% of that number with Pink Lemonade sales, that adds up to $90,000 a week of donations.

If NASCAR fans stepped up for the next 10 weeks, we can get Living Essentials donation up to $900,000 to the fight.

And we all know that 5-Hour Energy sponsors Clint Bowyer under the Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) banner.  And Clint's car will be pink at 4 races to highlight breast cancer awareness month of October.

    October 7: Talladega, Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500
    October 13: Charlotte, Bank of America 500
    October 21: Kansas, Hollywood Casino 400, Clint Bowyer's home track
    October 28: Martinsville, Tums Fast Relief 500

On top of any effort fans will make, MWR is going to be donating a portion of their proceeds from all trackside Clint Bowyer pink merchandise sales to the Avon Foundation for Women Breast Cancer Crusade.

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BTW

I have given 5-Hour Energy a try and it did not jack me up like I had feared it would.  In fact, it actually made me feel awake or alert without the jazzed up side affects.

Considering I'm a light-weight and some additives can jack me up pretty bad, I was pleased to see that 5-Hour Energy did not.

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If you can, give the 5-Hour Energy Pink Lemonade a try.  If if doesn't disagree with you, maybe a bottle a week?  It's for a good cause.

But if not, that's OK too.

Breast cancer hits 1 in 8 women.  Cancer hits 1 in 3 people.  Something to think about, because if you haven't been impacted by it, I bet someone close to you has been.

5hourenergy

Related Post:  Check Out All The Pink on the NASCAR Broadcasts

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Check Out The Pink On-Track & In The Broadcast (Breast Cancer Awareness)

I like seeing the pink out there on the track.  Whether it be on a car as a highlight tone, the primary color of the car or a driver/crew member wearing something pink, it's a reminder that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month.  I like the awareness it brings, even if it's just a moment that makes anyone think about it.

1 in 8 women will have to deal with breast cancer in one way or another.  If you do the math, it's a huge number of women.  If you look around, you'd be surprised.  No one talks about it, but when you or a family member is in the middle of the battle, and you talk to people in your life... well, it's amazing how many people I chatted with either had themselves, an immediate family member or a close friend who had to battle the darkness of breast cancer.

Over on my primary website where I often chat about breast cancer, there's this pitch I spout on about, that, well, you're about to hear yourself.  It's what I call the Power of One.

One of my wishes is that everyone who is watching a show sees the pink, that they step up, find a place to contribute and donate a $ingle Dollar.

I say that because if there's around 3, 4 or 5 million folks watching the race, well, that would be very cool to raise that kind of money, just like that.  All off of one dollar contributions, or as I like to say it, The Power of One!

If you or no one in your family hasn't experienced the trauma I get the lack of interest.  I was there.  I get it.  It's not directly impacting you.  But if you do go through the sudden rush of this horrible experience where on one day, your family gets that call from the doctor and by the end of the week, having had to make some tough decisions and be in surgery the following week, then you get it.  And it will never let you go either.

Here are a few suggested sources for donations, but to be honest, which ever works best for you.  That's because it's all the same goal, no matter where you send your helping dollar!

Regardless, THANK YOU for the consideration of this matter.

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National Breast Cancer Foundation
National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Healthline Breast Cancer Anatomy
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Breast Cancer - You'd Be Surprised How Many It Affects Or What Little It Takes To Help!

Watching the Atlanta race, I took note of the pace car sporting the Breast Cancer Pink Ribbon logo on the hood.  That logo signifies breast cancer awareness, or the attempt to bring awareness to cancer.  That pink car is the Cancer Awareness Camaro and every lap it takes around the Atlanta track, Chevy will donate $200.  (So we're hoping for a lot of "water bottle" cautions!!!)

What's funny is that sometimes awareness programs only seem to be noticed by those that have gone through the experience, either personally or via a family member.  I took notice of the car because of something my wife went through less than a year ago.

Did you know that

"Breast cancer can affect 1 in 8 women.  200,000 women are diagnosed each year.  That's 547 women a day.  Or 22 women an hour.  You do the math… how many women are in your life?  Whether you know it or not, you know someone… and it's probably someone how supports the cost."

The stats are a bit insidious or surprising.  And this is just breast cancer, one form of cancer.  And when we went through the ordeal, our experience was softened by all the research and financial help that built up the knowledge base that helped us through this ordeal.  Since then I've been doing what I can to help raise awareness or contribute when and where I can.

And so, here's my pitch, and it's a simple one:

$1.

That's it.  You'd be surprised what a mere dollar can do, because if everyone watching the race pitched in with $1, that's a quick few million dollars that can go to helping the research in the fight against cancer... whether it's breast cancer or any cancer for that matter. So don't feel like you're not doing enough if all you do is give $1.  Believe me, if everyone chimed in, it would help the fight.

Thanks for your time in reading through this piece.

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National Breast Cancer Foundation
National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Healthline Breast Cancer Anatomy
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Chevrolet Press Release on the pink Camaro

"Chevrolet Racing Revs Up Breast Cancer Fight
Brand to donate $200 per caution lap during AdvoCare 500 paced by pink Camaro SS

2012-08-29

DETROIT – Chevrolet Racing will renew the brand's fight against breast cancer this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway where every lap run under the caution flag will lead to a $200 contribution by Chevrolet to the American Cancer Society's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer initiative.

"For our 100th birthday in 2011, Chevrolet began its support of the American Cancer Society, and the generous response from our dealers, employees and customers told us we needed to help the Society fight for more birthdays," said Don Johnson, vice president of Chevrolet Sales and Service. "At Chevy, we believe everyday heroes can accomplish extraordinary things, and it is in this spirit that we work to achieve a world without breast cancer."

On Friday, 30 breast cancer survivors and their guests will spend the day at Atlanta Motor Speedway and participate in Chevrolet Camaro SS pace car rides around the historic track with Team Chevy NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jamie McMurray and four-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion Ron Hornaday Jr. NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Danica Patrick also will visit with survivors for photos and autographs.

On Sunday, Chevy will donate $200 for every caution lap run during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AdvoCare 500, paced by the pink Camaro SS featuring the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer logo. In 2011, 64 caution laps at Atlanta generated $12,800 for the American Cancer Society.

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In September, Chevrolet will announce additional brand, dealer, employee and consumer activities in support of the American Cancer Society and Making Strikes Against Breast Cancer.

"Last year, contributions of more than $900,000 supported the American Cancer Society's mission to save lives by helping people stay well and get well, by finding cures and by fighting back against this disease," said Roshini George, national vice president of health promotions for the American Cancer Society. "As we approach National Breast Cancer Awareness month in October, we want thank the Chevrolet family for its support and remind everyone to take the steps that make a difference in our fight against breast cancer."

Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world's largest car brands, doing business in more than 140 countries and selling more than four million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature spirited performance, expressive design, and high quality. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com."

Susan G. Komen and NASCAR Day

The NASCAR Foundation has announced that NASCAR Day will "Go Pink" through a joint partnership with FOX Sports Supports and Susan G. Komen for the Cure® April 24-26.

Celebrated on May 15, NASCAR Day is an opportunity for fans, corporations, schools and organizations across the country to donate to The NASCAR Foundation to raise funds to help thousands of children live better lives.

Through the partnership between The NASCAR Foundation, FOX Sports Supports and Komen for the Cure, a portion of the net proceeds raised through the program will benefit Komen for the Cure, supporting its promise to save lives end breast cancer forever. Specifically, the money raised will support the Susan G. Komen Scholarship Fund – a fund specifically designed for children whose mothers have lost their battle against cancer.

The NASCAR Foundation also announced that APlus at Sunoco, the official pit stop of NASCAR, will be the official "pin stop" for NASCAR Day pins this year. Fans will be able to visit participating locations to make a donation. Anyone making a donation of $5 or more will receive a collectible lapel pin.

NBaP thinks that since NASCAR fans do have a great reputation for supporting causes that our sport looks to support, we should make the fan base proud and do what we can for this great cause.  There's a ton more info at the NASCAR news link at NASCAR.com.

Ron Hornaday Sr Passed Away

Ron Hornaday Sr, father to Ron Hornaday Jr, died December 21, 2008.

Reports are that he succumbed to cancer.

Our condolences to the Horndays.

Carl Edwards to Wear Specially-Designed Firesuit

Fans of Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Office Depot Ford Fusion in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, have the opportunity to bid on a one-of-a-kind racing firesuit and helmet in an online auction to benefit City of Hope National Medical Center in California. Edwards will show his support for City of Hope by wearing the firesuit and helmet in the Subway 500 race on October 21 at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia. The auction will begin on Friday, October 19 and run through Sunday, October 28 and can be accessed by visiting http://stores.ebay.com/Roush-Racing-Memorabilia.

City of Hope - one of the most advanced biomedical research and treatment facilities in the world - is dedicated to the prevention, treatment and cure of cancer and other life-threatening diseases. It is a long-time beneficiary of generous support from the Office Products Industry.

This very special fundraising project is made possible by the Office Depot Foundation and Roush Fenway Racing. To learn more about the Office Depot Foundation, visit www.officedepotfoundation.org.

roushracing.com

Reed Sorenson to Raise Awareness for Breast Cancer

Target and Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS) announced today that the No. 41 Target Dodge will feature a pink paint scheme for the next two NEXTEL Cup Series events to raise awareness for Breast Cancer.

Reed Sorenson will be running a pink No. 41 Dodge in this weekend’s 500-mile race at Martinsville Speedway and at his hometown track - Atlanta Motor Speedway on Oct. 28.

Additionally, Target and CGRFS also announced Sorenson’s teammate David Stremme will be driving a Target House Dodge at Martinsville, highlighting Team Target’s commitment to cause-related programs.

Sorenson has created a donation pledge for the Atlanta race, which Target will match, that consists of a number of levels, with the top amount (including the match) being $36,400. Sorenson will donate $10,000 for a win, $5,000 for a top-five finish, $1,000 for a top-10 finish, $4,100 for a pole and $12.62 for each lap completed, totaling $4,100 if he completes all of the scheduled 325 laps that will make up the Pep Boys Auto 500. He will also auction his autographed custom race helmet and firesuit with proceeds from the pledge and auction benefiting The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) and Project Pink House.

Individuals that want to bid for either Sorenson’s helmet or firesuit from the “Pink Car” races can visit www.reedsorenson.com. The auction will begin on Monday, Oct. 22. Artwork for both the Pink Car and Target House car are available upon request.

chipganassiracing.com