Queen of Sports

Ride Shotgun With Danica Patrick

AirTran Airways has teamed up with Danica Patrick to provide fans the chance to fly to Miami for free to meet the racecar driver and stay free for 2 nights in a hotel. One lucky winner and a guest will get the once-in-a-lifetime chance to ride in an official IndyCar Series pace car, as well as a 2-seater car, enjoy a private breakfast with Danica and her  teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay, and get VIP access to the race and the Andretti Autosport hospitality pavilion.

Fans can enter to win here, through September 16th.

NASCAR’s Deborah Renshaw Parker Opening Clothing Boutique

Former NASCAR driver Deborah Renshaw Parker is getting ready to open up her own fashion boutique in Bowling Green, Kentucky. In November 2006, Deborah married NASCAR crew chief Shawn Parker. The couple met at the Daytona International Speedway in February of 2004.

We had the opportunity to ask Deborah a couple questions about her new business venture while she was in Los Angeles selecting brands to carry in her new store. Sounds like so much fun!

Queen Of Sports: Have you always been interested in fashion and retail?

Deborah: Absolutely, fashion has always interested me because of the ever changing looks that have evolved over time.   I’m so excited about having the opportunity to bring the latest trends and styles to Bowling Green after being at the MAGIC [Men's Apparel Guild of Southern California - clothing convention] show in Vegas and being shown around the LA Mart this week. I think growing up around the automotive retail business (family business), truly helped shape my future in the retail industry…whether it’s the automotive or fashion industry.

Queen Of Sports: How did you encounter this opportunity?

Deborah: After my husband and I had our second child, I had this desire to start my own business. I ended up staying home after giving birth to our daughter and found lots of time to start drawing up my business plan. We ended up going out for breakfast one morning and went into this boutique named Apricot Lane. They had just opened and me being so interested in how beautiful the store was… I struck up a conversation with one of the associates. She ended up being the owner and shared with me her story of opening their boutique. That’s when I found out it was a franchise. To sum it all up, I was on the phone with the apricot lane headquarters within an hour after leaving their store. That was roughly 7 months ago and my store will be opening Oct 15th!!! We are so excited and were already looking at a 2nd and third location!

Queen Of Sports: What similarities have you found in being a professional race car driver and opening your own fashion boutique?

Deborah: They are both such a fast pace industry. If your not keeping up with the trends, whether it’s new set ups at a race track or a new safety feature in your racecar OR what’s the newest trend for the upcoming season… You WILL be left behind and not be successful! Also, if you don’t have the right “team” surrounding you in either industry you will not be able to keep up. I personally feel that in any industry you must surround yourself with amazing people. You should always empower the ones around you giving them the ability to help you make the important decisions. Being successful is NEVER the work of one individual… It is your “team” that makes it happen!

Queen Of Sports: What is your favorite item that your store will carry?

Deborah: Probably will be our premium denim lines. I’m such a jeans girl! Some of my favorites are: Miss Me, Joe’s Jeans and Rock Revival. Oh… And I love to pair them up with a great funky belt!

Queen Of Sports: What does your husband Shawn think about your new business venture?

Deborah: He is 100% supportive on this adventure. For example, while I’ve been at MAGIC in Vegas and out here in LA for buying merchandise for two weeks, he truly stepped up to ease my mind about our children. He’s been at home doing all the duties of raising two children. Putting them both to bed every night etc…. I’ve never been away from home this long and he has made it very easy for me.

*Big thank you to Deborah Renshaw Parker for taking time out of her busy schedule to answer our questions and also to her publicist Stacey Graham for coordinating!

Photos: Stacey Graham

NASCAR’s Jeff Gordon And Wife Welcome New Baby!

Congratulations to Jeff Gordon and his wife, Ingrid Vandebosch!

The couple welcomed a baby boy Leo Benjamin on Monday at 8:53 a.m. He weighed 7 lbs, 2 oz., and measured 19 inches long.

“He’s happy and healthy, and Mom is doing great,” Jeff wrote on his official Web site where he announced the news.

Baby Leo will join big sister Ella Sofia, 3.

Photo: www.JeffGordon.com

Second Season Of Shaq Vs. On ABC

Shaquille O’Neal is a competitive guy. In the new season of Shaq Vs., Shaq continues to take on high-profile athletes and non-sports related challenges. The show displays all the training Shaq does leading up to an athletic challenge, as well negotiations on a handicap and the hype leading up to the challenge. This season, Shaq will take on Justin Bieber, challenge Rachael Ray to a cook-off, he’ll team up with Dwight Howard and a couple football players including Chris Johnson of the Tennesse Titans and DeSean Jackson of the Philadelphia Eagles. He’ll also tee off with Charles Barkley, try to eat more hot dogs than Joey Chestnut, and box Sugar Shane Mosley. Last night’s season premiere saw Shaq racing against Dale Earnhardt Jr. and competing against the National Spelling Bee Champion in a spell-off.

Shaq said about the show, “I’m out to prove that I can compete beyond athletics. I’ve spent all year sharpening my skills and I want to win. There’s no challenge bigger than me.” Tune in to ABC, rumor has it he lost every challenge last season and is on the road to doing the same this season. Or you can just tune in to the NBA to see more of the same.

Inisde the ESPYs

There were lots of athletes and celebrities on hand last night at the biggest sports award show of the year.

Athletes who made an appearance included Terrell Owens, Derek Fisher and wife Candace, Mark Sanchez, Tim Tebow, Amare Stoudemire, Reggie Bush, Dara Torres, Danica Patrick, Apolo Anton Ohno, Vince Young and Lisa Leslie.

The show opened with a montage of those sports figures that we lost this year including Chris Henry, George Steinbrenner and John Wooden.

Shaun White and Lindsey Vonn presented the award for best record breaking performance to John Isner for the longest match in Wimbledon history against Nicolas Mahut.

Chris Bosh joined model Marissa Miller to hand out the first award of the evening, best breakthrough performance which went to Tennessee Titans player Chris Johnson, who was doing his best Lil’ Wayne impression. He wore sunglasses (inside the theatre) and thanked online video streaming website UStream and Twitter.

Check out the picture below of Chris Bosh with his girlfriend chatting up teen heartthrob Zac Efron backstage:

Also check out some photos of the USA Men’s National Soccer Team, they are so hot!

The team won best moment, when Landon Donovan kicked in the game winning goal in their game against Algeria. Landon also walked away with the trophy for best performance under pressure for that same goal.

Other celebrities in attendance included Amber Rose, January Jones, Bobby Brown, Holly Robinson Peete, Jason Sudelkis, Dave Annable, Arsenio Hall, Tracy Morgan, Ashley Greene, Mark Wahlberg, Brooklyn Decker and Jon Hamm.

Photos: Twitter

Athletes Nominated For 2010 Teen Choice Awards!

Congrats to all the athletes nominated for the 2010 Teen Choice Awards!

Those in the running for best male athlete include: Albert Pujols, Apolo Anton Ohno, David Beckham, Drew Brees and LeBron James. Competing for best female athlete are: Candace Parker, Danica Patrick, Lindsey Vonn, Misty May-Treanor and Serena Williams.

In the action sports category, the male athletes are: Shaun White, Ryan Sheckler, Kelly Slater, Travis Pastrana and Kevin Pearce. In the action sports female category are: Torah Bright, Hannah Teter, Sarah Burke, Ashley Fiolek and Maya Gabeira.

The awards show will air on August 9th on Fox at 8pm. Vote for your favorite athletes here. Which athletes will be taking home a surfboard this year?

A-Team Cast Visits NASCAR

The cast of the upcoming film, The A-Team visited the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday in Concord, North Carolina.

Actress Jessica Biel, actors Bradley Cooper and Sharlto Copley and MMA fighter Quinton “Rampage” Jackson got a tour of garages, participated in pre-race activities and signed some autographs for fans.

The A-Team comes out in theaters on June 11th.

Ashley Judd’s Husband Wins Indy 500!

Actress Ashley Judd and her husband, NASCAR driver Dario Franchitti have a lot to celebrate!

Judd was on hand to see her hubby win his second Indy 500 race and according to sources, she ran down to greet him on the track barefoot!

How cute!

We have to say, Dario is quite the sexy man. He’s Scottish with Italian heritage, so yummy!

Check out a photo gallery of the happy couple here.

In other Indy 500 news: movie star Jack Nicholson started the race by waving the green flag and driver Danica Patrick finished 6th.

Sports Peeps On Maxim’s Hot 100

Four women with sports connections made the 2010 Maxim’s Hot 100 List, the magazines compilation of the sexiest women.

NASCAR driver Danica Patrick came in at number 22. Following her is ESPN reporter and Dancing with the Stars contestant Erin Andrews at 58 and Olympic gold medal skier Lindsey Vonn at 59 (pictured above).

Also on the list is Dwyane Wade’s girlfriend Gabrielle Union at 57. Gabrielle is currently involved in a lawsuit filed by Wade’s ex-wife Siohvaughn.

Tiger Teams Up With International Custody Lawyer

After pulling out of the Players Championship tournament this weekend due to a neck injury, it seems Tiger Woods has hired a divorce attorney who specializes in international child custody agreements.

Thomas Sasser, of Palm Beach, Florida, represented NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon in 2003 during his divorce.

Sources say that Tiger and Elin are trying to arrange for a custody agreement that allows her to take the kids to Sweden but also grants custody and visitation rights for Tiger as well. The goal is for Sasser and lawyers from Elin’s team to work out an agreement before divorce papers are filed.

When reached by phone, Sasser would not confirm or deny whether he is representing Tiger.