WilliamShatner.com :: OFF TO THE RACES

OFF TO THE RACES
Posted by: LeopardHead on Friday, July 19, 2002 - 11:44 PM

	Last year, Bill participated in the Toyota Long Beach Grand Prix Pro/Celebrity Race. This year, he's taking part in the celebrity segment of the first major auto-racing event in the greater Washington DC area in over 80 years. It's called the Cadillac Grand Prix and it starts today.
<p align="right"><font size="2" color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">July 19, 2002</font> <p align="left"><font size="2" color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Last year, Bill participated in the Toyota Long Beach Grand Prix Pro/Celebrity Race. This year, he's taking part in the celebrity segment of the first major auto-racing event in the greater Washington DC area in over 80 years. It's called the Cadillac Grand Prix and it starts today.</font> <p align="center"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#FFFFFF"></font> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1" color="#FFcc33">Bill pauses during practice at the Panoz Racing School. </font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1" color="#FFcc33">All celebrity drivers were required to attend a one or two-day session prior to the race. Photo courtesy of Cadillac Grand Prix.</font> <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#FFFFFF">The 3</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#FFFFFF">-day event which includes a lifestyle expo and concert will run through Sunday, July 21st and take place at the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium. The celebrity Pro-Am segment is scheduled for Saturday at 6:30pm. On Friday afternoon prior to the race, celebrity </font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#FFFFFF">drivers will be given the opportunity to practice on the 1.7 mile track (featuring 7 turns) during two half hour sessions, the first beginning at 1:25pm, the second at 5:00pm.</font> <p align="center"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#FFFFFF"></font><font size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> </font> <p align="left"><font size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Besides Bill, other celebrities participating in this year's event include <font color="#FFFFFF">Kim Alexis, Coolio, Melissa Joan Hart, Tim Matheson, Brad Whitford, Ian Ziering and NASA Astronaut Pierre Thuot. </font>Unlike many other events where celebrity drivers race small engine vehicles, each of the Cadillac Grand Prix participants will be behind the wheel of a 250 horsepower 5.0 liter Panoz GT-RA race car. And to prepare them for the challenge, each celebrity was required to attend a one or two-day training session at the Panoz driving school in Sebring, Atlanta or Dallas, Texas.</font> <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">This is the first time Cadillac has sponsored a racing event. It will be broadcast nationally on NBC on Sunday, July 21st from 1-3pm EST. <font color="#FFFFFF">If you'd like more information, we invite you to visit the website at http://www.CadillacGrandPrix.com. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster or by calling (202) 432-SEAT.</font></font> <hr /> <p align="left"><font color="#FFcc33" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="3">WAIT...THERE's MORE</font> <p align="left"><font color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Just before leaving for the Cadillac Grand Prix, Bill was busy doing press for several of the his upcoming projects. He was interviewed by the New York Times, The Onion, the TV Guide Channel and E!. Some of the topics he covered included this website and...</font> <p align="left"><font color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">The Shatner Big Scenario Game: The excitement is building, the time is drawing near for Bill's big event, the largest paintball competition in history! </font> <p align="left"><font color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Groom Lake: Just this week, Bill said of the project, "Groom Lake is finished and I think it's terrific. We're now in that gray area where we're selling it, attempting to find a place for it on television and on DVD and in foreign sales. Subsequent of all that, we'll be selling special copies on WilliamShatner.com. How long this will take, I'm not sure, but stay tuned." William Shatner, July 17, 2002.</font> <p align="left"><font color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> I'm Working on That: Bill collaborated with Chip Walter on this book that takes a look at the journey of technology from science fiction to science fact. It's available online through Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com now and will be in bookstores by August. There's a short article on page 54 of the August issue of Wired Magazine, too.</font> <p align="left"><font color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> The Captain's Peril: Bill's latest Star Trek novel scheduled for release in 2003.</font> <p align="left"><font color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> Lil' Pimp:</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> Based on the MediaTrip.com animated made-for-Internet comedy series. Lil' Pimp is a 9 year old "freckled face" boy who, well let's just say his name says it all! Bill lends his voice talents to one of the characters in the film. Release (TBA) 2003. </font> <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">VH1: Bill's Greatest One Hit Wonders show airs July 29th. </font> <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">American Psycho 2: Bill stars in the sequel to American Psycho in DVD/video release only. </font> <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Fright Night: Bill's new show William Shatner's Full Moon Fright Night premieres on August 3rd on the Sci Fi C<font color="#FFFFFF">h</font></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#FFFFFF">annel</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#FFFFFF">. </font> <p align="left"> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#FFFFFF">Temecula Film Festival: Bill will be presented with a Lifetime Achievement award on September 21st.</font> <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#FFFFFF">Priceline.com: Priceline has kicked off another campaign with Bill at the helm once again. </font> <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#FFFFFF">Pro-Celebrity Charity Ride: Bill's biking (motorcycle) from Denver to Aspen. </font> <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#FFFFFF">As usual, Bill is busy, busy, busy...involved in one project after another. We'll be posting additional information on Bill's appearances as soon as we receive it, so stay tuned! </font> <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#FFFFFF">One of the next important dates to remember is Wednesday, July 24th when Bill will make an appearance on the The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn on CBS. The show airs just past midnight, Tuesday into Wednesday, so don't wait until Wednesday night. Start on Tuesday and go forward! </font> <p align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#FFFFFF">Contributed by Jane Singer and Sandy Moruzzi</font> <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#FFFFFF">If you missed one of our past columns, you can view them in the SFI Archive. Our next column will appear on August 2, 2002.</font> <hr /> <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="" size="2"><font color="#FFFFFF">Shatner & Friends International is William Shatner's official fan club. We are a community of friends drawn together by an appreciation of William Shatner, the actor and the man. </font></font> <p align="left"><font color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">O</font><font color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">ur first newsletter, The Best of Times, is posted online. Each issue features the latest news about Bill and his activities, exclusive interviews, articles, lots of candid photos, charity updates and much more. The next one will be published later this month.</font> <p align="left"><font color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> We will post time sensitive information concerning Bill's appearance schedule within Bill's online calendar. It's updated regularly, so keep checking back. </font> <p align="left"><font color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><font size="-1">If you're interested in joining the Club, annual membership includes a beautiful autographed 8x10 photograph of William Shatner as Captain Kirk, a copy of Bill's credits, a short biography, a subscription to The Best of Times and the opportunity to participate in our annual Shatner Weekend. Membership also grants access to the Captain's Club, an exclusive members-only part of WilliamShatner.com which includes a bulletin board and Club merchandise. Click here to join.</font></font> <p align="left"><font color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">We are excited to be part of WilliamShatner.com and we will be making regular updates to the website. </font>