Fan’s Plight Gets Car Owner All Revved Up

The people involved in NASCAR certainly understand marketing.

When car owner Beth Ann Morgenthau read Times columnist Bill Plaschke’s account of Dodger season-ticket holder Irving Zeiger’s being asked to pay $120,000 for four front-row seats in renovated Dodger Stadium, six times as much as the $20,000 he paid for first-row seats behind the dugout in the old configuration, she was outraged.

“I can’t imagine taking a 43-year loyal fan and doing that, especially without a lot of remorse,” Morgenthau said. “If Mr. Zeiger would like, I’ll buy him four tickets to the next NASCAR Nextel Cup race at California Speedway, and throw in snacks too.”

Said Zeiger: “I sure appreciate the offer, but unfortunately I’m not a NASCAR fan.”

Zeiger -- who ended up keeping his original seats, now five rows behind the dugout -- said Avenger owner Casey Wasserman also offered him complimentary tickets, but he declined.

Trivia time: Troy Aikman will be among eight people inducted into the Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame on Wednesday. When Aikman led UCLA to a 17-3 victory over Arkansas in the 1989 Cotton Bowl, it gave coach Terry Donahue how many consecutive bowl victories?

Tapping a new market: Aikman will share the honor of saying “Gentleman, start your engines” at today’s Nextel Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway. Comedian George Lopez will say the same thing in Spanish -- the first time a NASCAR race has had a bilingual introduction.

Lopez figures it makes sense for NASCAR to try to attract more Hispanic fans. “Latinos love lowered cars with stickers and decals,” he said.

Cultural exchange: Of the San Francisco 49ers’ game in Mexico City Oct. 2 against the Arizona Cardinals, Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote: “It makes sense. The Cardinals have the league’s worst attendance, and the 49ers would have all the box-office magnetism in Phoenix of a Pinewood Derby regional. So why not move the game to Mexico City and draw 100,000 fans who know football like 49er fans know bullfighting?”

Sweep season: According to Steven Vanderpool of Stats Inc., the Lakers were swept by seven teams this season -- Detroit, 2-0; Miami, 2-0; Philadelphia, 2-0; Phoenix, 4-0; San Antonio, 4-0; Minnesota, 3-0, and Washington, 2-0. During Shaquille O’Neal’s eight seasons with the Lakers, they were swept a total eight times, an average of one team per season.

Looking back: On this day in 1976, Mike Schmidt hit four consecutive home runs as the Philadelphia Phillies overcame a 13-2 deficit and beat the Chicago Cubs, 18-16, at Wrigley Field.

Trivia answer: Seven, which is an NCAA record.

And finally: From Jay Leno: “Did you see at the Laker game the other night they had a special event? They had a reunion of the 1985 Laker championship team. Magic Johnson, Kareem and everybody. And after they were introduced, the 1985 team beat the current team, 106-48.”

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Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.