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[Kurt Kummer]

I was watching the NASCAR twin 150 mile races from Daytona yesterday afternoon.  When Dale Earnhardt Jr won the first one he climbed out of his No. 88 Chevy in Victory Lane and he paused for a moment to gently caress the car's roof and smile.  It looked like he was pretty happy with its performance.  The broadcasters said he'd named the car 'Amelia.'  Yes, that Amelia.

It's amazing to think how Amelia Earhart still captures our collective consciousness even after all this time.

[Martin X. Moleski, SJ]

The broadcasters said he'd named the car 'Amelia.'  Yes, that Amelia.

"Dale Earnhardt Jr. reveals thought process behind naming car 'Amelia'"

"It's uncharacteristic and unique that we would actually be taking the same car to the Daytona 500 this year that we ran last year," Earnhardt Jr. said during Thursday's final leg of the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour presented by Technocom. "Typically teams with as much resources as HMS (Hendrick Motorsports) build brand-new cars regardless of how successful a car was last year, also due to rule changes and things you learn that can't be implemented into last year's car. You might bring a new car for a lot of reasons, but we're going to take the same car because it was so successful."

So successful that Earnhardt and cohorts decided to give the car a name -- Amelia -- in honor of the first woman pilot to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.

"The fact that we're going to keep running it, I said, 'We've got to name it,' " Earnhardt Jr. said. "We were thinking of a woman whose accomplished something that was an awesome person that was something we could be proud of, and Amelia Earhart was the first thing that came to my mind. She must have been the most daring, she sort of fits that mold of courage and determination that you need as a race-car driver. She must have had that and more to be able to do the things she did in her lifetime. So Amelia was the name we came up with."

[Bill Lloyd]

Kelley Earnhardt, sister of Dale and co-owner of JR Motorsports may have had a say in the matter. She brought Danica Patrick into NASCAR and is big on getting women involved.

I don't watch much NASCAR but that was truly an exciting finish yesterday.