At the direction of chairman Kevin Martin, the Federal Communications Commission is paying $350,000 to NASCAR driver David Gilliland to sponsor the digital TV transition on the hood of his Ford Fusion in a three-race deal that concludes Sunday [Nov. 16] at Homestead-Miami Speedway. In his first two Sprint Cup races, Gilliland hasn't fared well: he crashed and had to exit the competition. His Nov. 9 crash in Phoenix was spectacular, a nine-car pile up in which his No. 38 car, owned by Yates Racing, was engulfed in flames as it sat burning atop another racing vehicle. Chairman Martin — named Porker of the Month in October by Citizens Against Government Waste for allegedly engaging in unnecessary federal spending in the NASCAR promotion — tried to put Gilliland's inability to finish a race in the best possible light. "Actually, coincidentally, except for the cars that win the races, the ones that are in wrecks, I think they get a lot of attention during the race itself," Martin told reporters Nov. 10.
