Fort Worth Star-Telegram from Fort Worth, Texas • 14

TA Star-Telegram I Friday June 6 2003 REGION FROM 1A Races expected to cause only minor traffic problems 14A wwwstar-telogramcom Inbound routes to Texas Motor Speedway Texas Motor I Speedway 1171 lahe Gmpmiir By GORDON DICKSON STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER Drivers have the green flag to use Interstate 35W and other roads surrounding Texas Motor Speedway tonight and Saturday even though large crowds are expected for a pair of races Only minor traffic delays are expected for the races beginning with the 400 a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race that starts at 8 tonight About 70000 people are expected to attend Saturday the Indy Racing League Bombardier 500k begins at 7 pm But a word of caution: Texas 114 will be closed to through traffic after 5 pm both days from I-35W to Farm Road 156 All lanes of Texas 114 there will be used to get spectators in and out of the speedway Speedway officials believe that they can handle most of the traffic on highways along the Tarrant-Denton county border without clogging pass-through fic on I-35W for this races Peters said In March when a NASCAR Winston Cup race drew about 200000 fans through traffic was forced to use only the left lane within a mile of the speedway Cities near the speedway plan to patrol heavily In Keller motorcycle officers will be stationed at three major intersections Texas 114 at Texas 170 US 3 77 at Texas 170 and Trophy Lake Drive at Texas 114 to keep an eye on speedway traffic anticipate about the same situation as last yean heavy traffic but no Keller Lt Tommy Williams said both IRL race weekends last year we had nothing more than rush-hour ONLINE: Texas Motor Speedway: wwwtexasmotorspeedwaycom Texas Department of Transportation online traffic updates: wwwdfwtrafficorg Gordon Dickson (817) 685-3816 gdicksonstar-telegramcom It's a big racing weekend at Texas Motor Speedway but traffic on area roads should run smoothly traffic Barry Worden speedway facility manager said that most spectators tonight will arrive after rush hour lucky that with this event backed it up to an 8 Worden said will make it a late-arriving For race-goers traffic often is worst immediately after an event and fans can expect delays of 60 to 80 minutes leaving the track Worden said The Texas Department of Transportation will post messages on its electronic signs along I-35W Loop 820 and other nearby highways to warn motorists of potential delays spokesman Micheal Peters said It will not be necessary to detour traf 820 Fort Worth Dallas STAR-TELEGRAMTIM BEDIS0N CREW Continued from Li Aaron's Dream Team Alaena Gail Geri Lynn Sandy Shanda Gina Tracy Sue Grable Stracener Parris Owens Bronston Tomaseski Romagnoli Webb NASCAR Series car or truck race Only two weeks after Anni-ka Sorenstam made history at the Bank of America Colonial becoming the first woman in 58 years to play in a professional golf tournament a team of Ms Goodwrenches will battle lug nut to gas can with the boys in pit row Did someone say publicity stunt? Sure TMS general manager Eddie Gossage says but this promotional coup will be a success only if the Dream Team is up to the task Auto racing is somewhat more perilous than golf glacj for the publicity But if we mess up life is on the said Tracy Romagnoli member of the Dream Team who lives in Prosper not focusing on speed as much as doing it Women working in pit row -I-is not new although auto racing has never attracted many of them Robinson even the only female driver in race Tina Gordon also is entered Sarah Fisher drives on the Indy car circuit But auto racing is still a domain Robinson who has raced against men on all three NASCAR circuits Craftsman Truck Busch Series and Winston Cup said she initially enamored of the idea of an all-female crew because they had no experience and she able to train extensively with them The Dream Team has essentially received a crash course working in pit row STAR-TELEGRAMPAULA TREVINO more than 200 pounds the first one off the wall standing in front of trucks entering pit row at almost 50 mph the scariest Tomaseski said I was a gymnast When I jump got pretty good hang Her sister-in-law Romagnoli was a late addition Her tryout was on Day in May never saw myself doing this until Gina talked me into Romagnoli said into fitness but she know how to start her own lawn mower so I decided to Tomaseski likes to tell a story about herself which might explain why she handles the jack rather than the tires changed a tire in St Louis she said went down the road a couple of miles and the tire fell training for two months Most pit crews are together for the entire racing season and some teams have been together for years But finding sponsors easy so Robinson climbed on board She and the Dream Team have a three-race deal with are sticking our neck out big Robinson said was hard to do this I was apprehensive about the training process their experience As many times as done this I can still screw up too proved it to me Gossage hired a marketing firm that recruited the Dream Team from health and fitness centers in the Fort Worth-Dal-las area Strength stamina and athleticism were more important than knowing under the hood In fact a backup team of men will be on hand to handle engine problems or dented fenders Many pit crews handle all the responsibilities although some teams do have specialists who deal with mechanical problems The Dream Team was chosen from about 20 applicants Shanda Bronston of Garland said the process included tryouts with each woman having a chance to work the pit crew disciplines front and rear tire carrier front and rear tire changer jackman (lifting the car) gasman (adding fuel) and catch can (catching fuel overspill) It was American Idol for the Jiffy Lube set lot of people will think a gimmick just for show or Bronston said the real The team of seven and an alternate is made up of two students two personal trainers a physical therapist an information analyst a business manager and the co-owner of an online talent database Geri Lynn Parris of Plano is the youngest at 22 Romagnoli is the oldest at 39 Some have changed tires and the oil before Some are no strangers to manual labor a farm girl from Romagnoli said bailed hay milked dairy cows It takes strength and Romagnoli was recruited by her sister-in-law Gina Tomaseski or as known around gasoline alley Tomaseski is the jack-man lifting the truck so the tires can be changed She weighs 130 pounds but handles the same hydraulic jack used by men who weigh Truck owner Mike Starr of Team Texas trained the Dream Team His job is to make sure -the wheels come off during race He said he is pleased with the progress been more fun than working with Starr said think gift to the profession was rough at first But the girls are pumped up You could teach them and show them the way you wanted it done and watch it There have been some bumps and bruises in the learning process Gail Stracener who totes the 77- pound gas can remembers missing the tank during an early training session and splashing fuel on her face and on the catch can woman beside her just kept she said we washed out' Romagnoli a rear tire carri- er was so pumped that she tripped and fell over the gun hose that the tire changer uses to unscrew the lug nuts told me be dead 4-run over in a she said But the Dream Team says ready after numerous and intensive two-hour training: sessions said Sandy Owens of Plano who handles the catch can had seven eight strangers all females i come together amazing- how well we get Their performance could give the younger generation some ideas 2 daughter who is 7 thinks the coolest Tomaseski said when you ask her what she wants to I be when she grows up she says dancer singer Pete Alfano (817) 390-7985 palfanostar-telegramcom legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union reverses the pre- sumption of Edgar said real issue is that the government wants to be relieved of the burden of proving its The attorney general in his first appearance before the panel in more than a year was grilled for nearly five hours on matters ranging from civil liberties protections to the treatment of detainees since the terrorist attacks The Justice inspector general released a report this week citing the verbal and physical abuse of some of 762 detainees held on immigration violations after the 9-11 attacks The report says the 1 department held them for an average of 80 days before clearing them Ashcroft said that the policy "for which we do not is to detain undocumented immigrants until they are cleared or deported and that the agency tries to complete the process as quickly as possible ONLINE: Justice Department wwwusdojgov American Civil Liberties Union 1 wwwacluorg Death Penalty Information Center wwwdeathpenaltyinfoorg TERRORISM Continued from 1A selves so that we remake our society in the image of those who would attack he said Democrats and Republicans shaken by the Sept 11 2001 terrorist attacks overwhelmingly approved sweeping new Justice Department powers the next month Since then some lawmakers have suggested that the law went too far and they are reluctant to expand the Justice investigative and prosecutorial powers some of our previous wars we have done things that have trampled civil liberties we have done them in the name of national security and then apologized for them And I wonder if not doing some of the same type of activities said Rep Jerrold Nadler D-NY Lawmakers and civil liberties attorneys said they were uncertain what expanded powers the Justice Department might need Federal law allows the death penalty for terrorist killings of US nationals in another country and for murder with weapons of mass destruction according to the Death Penalty Information Center Prosecutors may also have a defendant held before trial under the Bail Reform Act if they can convince a judge it is necessary said Tim Edgar Justice Department to propose legislation expanding the powers of law enforcement and intelligence-gathering agencies Ashcroft did not detail what changes the department wants but lie cited what he called inadequacies in the law The law can be used to prosecute anyone who provides personnel and training for a terrorist organization but it should be widened to target people who join such groups Ashcroft said must make it crystal clear that those who train for and fight with a designated terrorist organization can be charged under the material support he said Some terrorist acts in which people are killed would not be punishable by death or even life in prison but they should carry the he said Ashcroft asked for the power to hold terrorism suspects before trial That idea drew heated opposition from Democratic committee members who said they were concerned that the provision would allow the federal government to hold innocent people indefinitely without due process The government has Displaying an edict by a Saudi cleric Attorney General John Ashcroft tells members of the House Judiciary Committee that the Justice Department needs expanded investigative and prosecutorial powers to fight terrorism drawn criticism for detaining immigrants and for extended periods after the 9-11 attacks without trying them or giving them access to counsel offenses are not expressly included in the list of crimes that allow for pretrial detention even though it could prevent an liberties of law-abiding citizens prosecutor in modern history has been given greater power than you now said Rep William Delahunt D-Mass a former district attorney Although Congress supports the effort to track terrorists solution is not for us to become zealots our- Ashcroft said think pretrial detention should be something preferred for a lot of serious crimes than it is but it should be preferred for terrorism crimes as Democrats pounced on arguments warning that expansion of Justice Department authority could imperil the privacy and civil.