The BulleTin • Friday, March 26, 2021 B5
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021
TODAY
SATURDAY
TONIGHT
HIGH
59°
LOW
31°
Sunshine
Clear to partly cloudy
MONDAY
68°
42°
64°
25°
Mostly sunny and warmer
Mild with periods of clouds
and sunshine
ALMANAC
TUESDAY
42°
24°
WEDNESDAY
53°
24°
Cooler with times of sun
and clouds
TEMPERATURE
Yesterday Normal
Record
48°
53° 75° in 1960
36°
29° 13° in 1996
PRECIPITATION
24 hours through 5 p.m. yesterday
0.00"
Record
0.75" in 1975
Month to date (normal)
0.09" (0.60")
Year to date (normal)
1.18" (3.22")
Barometric pressure at 4 p.m.
29.85"
SUN, MOON AND PLANETS
Rise/Set
Today
Sat.
Sun
6:57am/7:25pm 6:56am/7:26pm
Moon
5:05pm/6:22am 6:23pm/6:50am
Mercury 6:26am/5:32pm 6:26am/5:37pm
Venus
7:05am/7:22pm 7:04am/7:24pm
Mars
9:50am/1:21am 9:49am/1:20am
Jupiter
5:22am/3:31pm 5:19am/3:28pm
Saturn
4:52am/2:33pm 4:48am/2:29pm
Uranus 8:14am/10:13pm 8:10am/10:09pm
Full
Last
New
First
High: 61°
at Hermiston
Low: 21°
at Crater Lake
Coos Bay
54/36
Cottage
Grove
59/35
Bandon
53/39
Port Orford
55/44
Mar 28
Apr 4
Apr 11
Apr 19
Tonight's sky: Use the handle of the Big Dip-
per to arc to Arcturus, speed down to Spica.
Gold Beach
54/45
64/36
Ashland
60/38
Brookings
59/44
Source: Jim Todd, OMSI
UV INDEX TODAY
10 a.m.
Noon
2 p.m.
4 p.m.
3
5
5
3
The higher the AccuWeather.com UV Index ™ number,
the greater the need for eye and skin protection. 0-2 Low,
3-5 Moderate; 6-7 High; 8-10 Very High; 11+ Extreme.
ROAD CONDITONS
For web cameras of our passes, go to
www.bendbulletin.com/webcams
I-84 at Cabbage Hill: Mostly sunny today. Fair
tonight. Sunny and mild Saturday.
US 20 at Santiam Pass: Sunshine today. Clear
to partly cloudy tonight.
US 26 at Gov't Camp: Sunny to partly cloudy,
mild today. Fair and chilly tonight.
US 26 at Ochoco Divide: Abundant sunshine
today. Clear to partly cloudy tonight.
ORE 58 at Willamette Pass: Sunshine today.
Clear to partly cloudy tonight. Sunny and mild
Saturday.
ORE 138 at Diamond Lake: Mostly sunny
today. Mainly clear tonight. Sunny Saturday.
SKI REPORT
Beaver
Marsh
54/24
Medford
Hampton
53/25
54/25
Burns
Fort Rock
57/25
Crescent
53/25
Roseburg
61/36
Grants
Pass
66/38
La Pine
Oakridge
57/33
Silver
Lake
58/26
Chiloquin
58/28
Klamath
Falls
58/25
Riley 55/25
54/27
Christmas Valley
56/26
63/31
Juntura
60/29
Jordan Valley
50/26
Frenchglen
53/28
Burns Junction
55/26
Rome
57/29
Paisley
57/31
Fields
53/29
Lakeview
54/27
McDermitt
50/25
Yesterday
Today Saturday
Yesterday
Today Saturday
Yesterday
Today Saturday
City
Hi/Lo/Prec. Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W
City
Hi/Lo/Prec. Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W
City
Hi/Lo/Prec. Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W
Astoria
51/43/0.11 50/41/pc 52/41/s
La Grande
45/34/0.01 53/29/s 63/39/pc
Portland
55/44/0.01 57/39/pc 60/41/pc
Baker City
51/34/Tr
56/27/s 62/33/pc
La Pine
44/31/0.01 54/25/s 63/31/s
Prineville
46/36/0.00 61/29/s 63/37/s
Brookings
51/39/0.03 59/44/s 62/44/s
Medford
53/39/0.01 64/36/s 71/41/s
Redmond
48/37/0.01 59/25/s 68/35/s
Burns
49/31/Tr
55/25/s 64/30/s
Newport
50/43/0.03 50/35/s 54/39/s
Roseburg
54/40/0.02 61/36/s 65/40/s
Eugene
53/41/0.03 58/35/pc 63/39/s
North Bend
51/37/0.13 53/38/s 58/41/s
Salem
54/41/Tr
56/36/pc 61/39/pc
Klamath Falls
47/30/Tr
58/25/s 67/28/s
Ontario
59/36/0.01 62/33/s 65/35/pc
Sisters
45/34/0.00 60/30/s 70/41/pc
Lakeview
41/28/0.04 54/27/s 64/32/s
Pendleton
53/40/0.02 59/38/s 65/44/pc
The Dalles
58/44/Tr
59/40/s 66/40/pc
Weather(W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice, Tr-trace, Yesterday data as of 5 p.m. yesterday
NATIONAL WEATHER
-10s
-0s
0s
10s
20s
30s
40s
50s
60s
70s
80s
90s
100s
110s
NATIONAL
EXTREMES
YESTERDAY (for the
T-storms
70°
31°
Partly sunny
NATIONAL
Yesterday
City
Hi/Lo/Prec.
Abilene
69/44/0.01
Akron
71/48/0.01
Albany
67/48/Tr
Albuquerque
52/23/0.00
Anchorage
32/25/0.22
Atlanta
77/62/0.23
Atlantic City
58/53/0.27
Austin
76/57/0.11
Baltimore
64/56/Tr
Billings
48/34/Tr
Birmingham
73/62/1.93
Bismarck
60/25/0.00
Boise
50/35/0.18
Boston
62/46/0.15
Bridgeport, CT 63/43/0.57
Buffalo
70/52/0.00
Burlington, VT
73/53/0.00
Caribou, ME
54/40/0.12
Charleston, SC 81/61/0.00
Charlotte
75/53/1.23
Chattanooga
67/57/2.63
Cheyenne
45/20/0.00
Chicago
50/44/Tr
Cincinnati
65/48/0.43
Cleveland
71/45/0.06
Colorado Springs 51/21/0.00
Columbia, MO
48/42/0.36
Columbia, SC
84/58/Tr
Columbus, GA
82/61/0.08
Columbus, OH
72/45/0.02
Concord, NH
67/46/0.02
Corpus Christi
88/65/Tr
Dallas
68/52/0.43
Dayton
68/44/0.29
Denver
52/28/0.00
Des Moines
43/38/0.22
Detroit
66/44/0.02
Duluth
31/26/Tr
El Paso
66/40/0.00
Fairbanks
31/15/0.10
Fargo
55/18/0.00
Flagstaff
38/25/Tr
Grand Rapids
50/45/0.07
Green Bay
42/37/Tr
Greensboro
69/49/0.62
Harrisburg
66/56/0.06
Hartford, CT
75/51/0.27
Helena
45/32/0.02
Honolulu
81/70/0.17
Houston
82/66/Tr
Huntsville
72/59/2.35
Indianapolis
59/44/0.11
Jackson, MS
82/63/0.67
Jacksonville
88/57/0.00
Today
Hi/Lo/W
81/54/s
58/43/pc
72/39/t
55/35/pc
29/15/pc
76/64/pc
73/53/c
84/62/s
80/49/pc
49/34/pc
75/60/pc
50/27/pc
57/34/s
65/45/sh
65/46/t
59/36/r
64/37/t
49/28/r
85/64/pc
83/54/pc
75/52/s
39/26/sn
53/44/pc
59/44/s
56/40/sh
49/30/c
61/50/pc
79/61/t
75/65/r
59/45/pc
67/40/r
81/69/s
78/56/s
58/44/pc
47/29/c
56/46/pc
56/33/c
36/28/pc
72/46/s
26/5/c
53/34/c
35/22/pc
48/32/r
49/32/pc
79/51/pc
75/51/pc
71/43/t
50/36/pc
82/72/s
82/68/s
71/52/s
57/44/c
77/65/pc
90/64/pc
Amsterdam
Athens
Auckland
Baghdad
Bangkok
Beijing
Beirut
Berlin
Bogota
Budapest
Buenos Aires
Cabo San Lucas
Cairo
Calgary
Cancun
Dublin
Edinburgh
Geneva
Harare
Hong Kong
Istanbul
Jerusalem
Johannesburg
Lima
Lisbon
London
Madrid
Manila
58/39/sh
57/46/s
75/62/s
79/55/pc
96/82/pc
63/51/c
59/50/r
59/45/pc
65/50/t
60/36/pc
75/61/t
73/57/pc
64/47/pc
43/27/pc
86/77/s
46/34/pc
48/36/r
64/44/pc
75/62/t
77/72/s
46/40/r
54/42/pc
74/53/s
76/66/s
66/50/pc
52/37/r
67/43/pc
94/78/s
Saturday
Hi/Lo/W
80/50/pc
68/56/pc
55/40/c
57/35/sh
34/12/c
82/66/t
61/52/s
82/59/t
73/54/s
58/40/pc
80/67/t
52/25/pc
63/40/s
54/39/s
59/43/s
56/46/c
48/36/c
40/21/c
84/66/t
75/64/sh
75/64/r
43/28/s
66/40/r
72/55/pc
66/54/pc
48/29/pc
72/40/pc
84/67/t
84/64/t
71/57/pc
55/33/pc
85/70/pc
77/53/c
71/52/c
49/31/pc
58/33/c
59/48/c
39/24/c
65/44/s
25/-6/c
47/25/pc
48/22/c
62/38/sh
49/32/sh
74/61/sh
71/53/s
62/39/s
57/41/pc
82/70/s
83/68/c
74/65/r
71/47/c
82/68/t
89/65/pc
City
Juneau
Kansas City
Lansing
Las Vegas
Lexington
Lincoln
Little Rock
Los Angeles
Louisville
Madison, WI
Memphis
Miami
Milwaukee
Minneapolis
Nashville
New Orleans
New York City
Newark, NJ
Norfolk, VA
Oklahoma City
Omaha
Orlando
Palm Springs
Peoria
Philadelphia
Phoenix
Pittsburgh
Portland, ME
Providence
Raleigh
Rapid City
Reno
Richmond
Rochester, NY
Sacramento
St. Louis
Salt Lake City
San Antonio
San Diego
San Francisco
San Jose
Santa Fe
Savannah
Seattle
Sioux Falls
Spokane
Springfi eld, MO
Tampa
Tucson
Tulsa
Washington, DC
Wichita
Yakima
Yuma
Yesterday
Hi/Lo/Prec.
38/29/0.04
48/42/0.20
56/45/0.13
68/55/0.00
67/50/0.84
50/40/Tr
67/43/1.28
64/51/0.00
69/53/0.49
45/39/0.00
74/60/1.15
86/74/0.00
44/42/0.00
53/30/0.00
73/54/1.40
79/69/Tr
68/49/0.08
67/51/0.04
82/54/0.00
60/43/0.04
47/38/Tr
91/63/0.00
72/57/0.00
51/43/0.36
61/51/0.01
72/51/0.00
72/48/Tr
53/42/0.00
66/49/0.18
75/52/0.10
57/22/0.00
51/40/0.00
75/50/Tr
73/50/0.00
67/44/0.00
57/48/0.60
48/36/0.07
78/56/Tr
62/55/0.01
60/51/0.00
63/46/0.00
51/17/0.00
84/63/0.00
54/42/0.89
53/24/0.00
49/34/0.00
54/45/0.51
88/68/0.00
69/43/0.00
57/48/0.61
66/55/Tr
54/43/Tr
57/44/0.00
75/54/0.01
Today
Hi/Lo/W
40/34/r
62/52/pc
51/31/sh
66/50/pc
60/43/s
57/44/c
72/51/s
68/50/pc
63/45/s
52/38/pc
71/56/s
86/74/s
50/38/c
53/41/pc
69/48/s
77/71/t
75/47/t
76/47/t
83/52/t
75/52/c
56/46/pc
91/66/pc
77/56/s
56/45/pc
79/48/t
63/49/s
60/44/pc
57/40/r
63/44/sh
84/53/pc
47/30/c
56/31/s
83/49/c
63/35/r
73/42/s
61/49/pc
49/33/sn
85/64/s
64/49/r
68/47/s
72/45/s
52/28/pc
89/65/pc
54/43/pc
57/41/c
53/33/pc
66/50/pc
85/70/pc
66/44/s
75/54/c
80/53/pc
71/46/c
64/35/s
69/47/s
Saturday
Hi/Lo/W
40/28/r
64/36/c
62/40/c
73/53/s
72/57/pc
58/32/pc
75/54/t
79/58/s
76/57/pc
55/33/sh
74/57/t
85/74/pc
57/38/sh
48/30/sh
73/61/r
84/71/t
65/49/s
67/49/s
69/57/s
71/44/s
56/32/c
90/67/pc
85/59/s
68/40/r
69/52/s
77/53/c
69/56/pc
51/37/c
60/40/s
77/64/pc
53/31/s
67/38/s
76/58/pc
53/42/c
76/45/s
77/44/pc
54/38/s
85/59/c
72/53/s
69/47/s
76/48/s
54/29/pc
88/66/c
55/43/pc
51/27/pc
56/41/pc
74/41/s
87/69/pc
71/47/pc
76/46/s
74/58/s
63/36/pc
66/37/pc
80/50/s
99/76/0.00
85/53/0.00
70/45/0.14
46/32/0.00
86/59/0.00
84/73/0.00
84/61/0.00
62/53/0.07
46/32/0.01
66/46/0.07
57/45/0.06
88/75/0.00
60/34/0.00
72/50/0.00
82/68/0.00
52/41/0.32
63/41/0.00
71/51/0.00
86/77/0.23
50/37/0.00
77/65/0.28
69/54/0.00
63/55/0.09
62/51/0.04
70/45/0.00
50/41/0.00
61/25/0.00
52/39/0.00
95/65/s
79/54/s
50/35/r
42/32/c
86/57/pc
84/72/s
90/65/pc
69/42/s
48/42/r
49/31/r
60/39/pc
86/75/s
61/47/pc
78/49/s
86/67/s
46/32/sh
67/45/c
71/61/pc
88/77/t
51/38/pc
71/62/sh
80/61/pc
64/53/sh
66/51/s
50/33/r
49/42/pc
62/39/pc
56/41/pc
94/64/s
81/54/s
46/36/r
41/30/pc
84/59/pc
84/71/s
94/68/pc
67/54/pc
45/33/c
48/34/pc
54/38/pc
88/76/s
62/43/pc
86/53/s
88/68/s
47/35/c
62/48/sh
68/57/r
89/78/t
50/36/sh
78/61/s
80/66/s
64/50/pc
64/58/c
51/40/pc
51/44/c
60/40/c
62/37/r
INTERNATIONAL
48 contiguous states)
National high: 94°
at Zephyrhills, FL
National low: -2°
at Gould, CO
Precipitation: 4.14"
at Rome, GA
In inches as of 5 p.m. yesterday
Ski resort
New snow
Base
Anthony Lakes Mtn
6
0-78
Hoodoo Ski Area
2
0-98
Mt. Ashland
2
67-77
Mt. Bachelor
0
117-123
Mt. Hood Meadows
0
0-212
Mt. Hood Ski Bowl
4
81-102
Timberline Lodge
9
0-192
Willamette Pass
0
0-45
Aspen / Snowmass, CO
3
57-80
Mammoth Mtn. Ski, CA
0
75-120
Squaw Valley, CA
0
0-129
Park City Mountain, UT
0
55-70
Sun Valley, ID
1
48-70
63°
27°
TRAVEL WEATHER
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
EAST: Milder Friday
Astoria
with sunshine and
50/41
Umatilla
Seaside
a few clouds. Clear
Hood
64/40
50/42
and chilly Friday
River
Rufus
Hermiston
night. Sunny and mild Cannon Beach
54/41
64/41
59/40
Arlington
Hillsboro Portland
Meacham Lostine
50/43
Saturday.
62/38
56/35 57/39
52/28
Wasco
51/27 Enterprise
Pendleton
The Dalles
CENTRAL: Sunshine
Tillamook
49/27
55/37
59/38
Sandy
59/40
McMinnville
51/36
Friday with a milder
Joseph
Heppner
La
Grande
54/41
Maupin
Government
59/38
afternoon. Clear and
53/29
48/27
Camp
58/35 Condon 56/38
Union
Lincoln City
chilly Friday night.
54/33
43/34
53/29
Salem
51/36
Spray
Sunshine Saturday
Granite
Warm Springs
56/36
Madras
59/31
Albany
51/28
with a mild afternoon. Newport
Baker City
62/32
62/32
Mitchell
50/35
56/33
56/27
WEST: Turning out
Camp Sherman
55/31
Redmond
Corvallis
John
Yachats
Unity
partly sunny and
58/31
59/25
56/35
Day
Prineville
51/36
57/30
milder Friday. Clear
Ontario
Sisters
61/29
Paulina
54/31
62/33
and cool Friday night. Florence
Eugene 60/30
Bend Brothers 54/27
Vale
Sunshine Saturday
52/37
58/35
59/31
52/25
Sunriver
63/33
with a nice afternoon.
Nyssa
58/29
OREGON EXTREMES
YESTERDAY
THURSDAY
Abundant sunshine,
pleasant and warmer
Partly sunny
OREGON WEATHER
Bend Municipal Airport through 5 p.m. yest.
High
Low
SUNDAY
Shown are today’s noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
Rain
Showers
Snow
Flurries
Ice
Warm Front
Stationary Front
Cold Front
Source: OnTheSnow.com
54/41/0.34
52/39/0.02
72/57/0.00
73/63/0.00
97/79/0.00
72/46/0.00
57/55/0.60
58/32/0.00
66/45/0.05
54/25/0.00
72/69/1.58
72/55/0.00
70/52/0.00
31/21/0.15
85/77/0.00
54/43/0.10
52/39/0.14
64/32/0.00
74/61/0.22
79/67/0.00
45/34/0.02
56/44/0.00
66/55/0.09
77/67/0.01
64/46/0.00
54/39/0.06
70/36/0.00
93/79/0.00
46/42/pc
61/48/s
73/64/c
68/48/pc
97/82/s
67/51/s
60/49/s
51/37/sh
65/49/t
62/42/pc
70/59/t
76/56/pc
68/51/s
53/36/pc
86/77/s
50/46/sh
50/43/sh
55/36/s
77/60/t
79/73/pc
51/41/s
53/41/s
76/53/s
77/68/s
72/52/s
52/47/pc
70/42/s
94/78/pc
Mecca
Mexico City
Montreal
Moscow
Nairobi
Nassau
New Delhi
Osaka
Oslo
Ottawa
Paris
Rio de Janeiro
Rome
Santiago
Sao Paulo
Sapporo
Seoul
Shanghai
Singapore
Stockholm
Sydney
Taipei City
Tel Aviv
Tokyo
Toronto
Vancouver
Vienna
Warsaw
MOTOR SPORTS | NASCAR TRUCK SERIES
Marital bliss: Stewart and Jessica Friesen look to make history
BY JENNA FRYER
AP Auto Racing Writer
Jessica Friesen will attempt
to make her NASCAR national
series debut at Bristol Motor
Speedway for a potential show-
down with her husband in the
Truck Series race.
Stewart Friesen is in his
fifth full season of Truck Se-
ries competition and his wife
limits her racing to sprint car
and modified divisions. Bristol
Motor Speedway for this week-
end has been converted into a
dirt track — a surface suited
for Jessica Friesen’s experience
— so Halmar Friesen Racing
entered a second truck for Sat-
urday night.
If she makes the field, Jes-
sica and Stewart Friesen would
be the first married couple to
compete in the same NASCAR
race since Elton Sawyer and
Patty Moise in a 1998 sec-
ond-tier series event. Jessica
Friesen is slated to drive the
No. 62 Toyota while her hus-
band will be in his usual No. 52
Tundra.
The buildup has been con-
fusing for their 5-year-old
son, Parker, who travels with
his parents to their respective
races. When Parker was diag-
nosed on the autistic spectrum,
Jessica Friesen scaled back her
racing to care for him while
also focusing on the family
printing business.
“He’s still very confused,”
Jessica Friesen said of her son.
““He says, ‘No, Mom. Dad
races the truck, you race the
modified, and trucks don’t
race on dirt, trucks race on the
pavement.’ So he was just kind
of getting his mind wrapped
around all that.”
The Friesens have competed
in the same event before, in-
David Duprey/AP file
American Sprint Car Series driver Jessica Zemken, now Jessica Friesen,
smiles during a rain delay at a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in Wat-
kins Glen, New York, in 2009.
cluding a sprint car race in up-
state New York two days after
their 2014 wedding. They fin-
ished first and second — but
Jessica Friesen is looking to
Sweet 16
Olympics
Continued from B3
Continued from B3
“Things have changed. You
could go somewhere else and
you could have the opportunity
right away to make an impact
and create something that’s
never been done before,” she
said. “Those kids are different.
They are special in their own
right and they wanted to do
something that has never been
done before and I’m thankful
to coach a group of them.”
Arizona has made it back to
the Sweet 16 for the first time
since 1998 when coach Adia
Barnes was playing for the
Wildcats.
Some other things to know
about this Sweet 16 field:
“The torch of Tokyo 2020
will become a bright light for
hope for Japanese citizens
and citizens in the world and
a light at the end of the tun-
nel,” said Seiko Hashimoto, the
president of the local organiz-
ing committee and a former
Olympian.
Homare Sawa, the biggest
star on the 2011 team, missed
the ceremony. She is being
treated for a condition affect-
ing her inner ear and had to
withdraw from the event.
Fans were told to social-dis-
tance along the roadside as the
torch passes, and they were
to refrain from loud cheer-
ing. Organizers have said they
will stop or reroute the relay if
crowding becomes a problem
during the four-month parade.
Spectators cooperated in
Naraha Town, just down the
road from where the torch
started its trip. A few hundred
people stood on the roadside
and were safely spread out.
“At first I didn’t think much
of it,” said 20-year-old Takumu
Kimura. “But when I actually
Inside the numbers
For the first time since 2013
three No. 6 seeds advanced to
the Sweet 16 with Michigan,
Oregon and Texas all reaching
the regional semifinals. Also,
for the third straight tourna-
ment all the No. 1 and No. 2
seeds reached the Sweet 16.
Crowd noise
For the first time in the tour-
Eric Gay/AP
Oregon’s Sedona Prince (32)
shoots over Georgia’s Javyn Nich-
olson (35) during the women’s
NCAA Tournament in San Antonio
on Wednesday. The Ducks are one
of three No. 6 seeds to advance to
the Sweet 16.
nament the NCAAs will allow
the public to attend games.
That will be limited to 17%
of the Alamodome’s capacity
per game — which is roughly
4,800 tickets.
“We’re in Texas, so, I feel
like we’re going to have a lot of
fans,” Baylor forward NaLyssa
Smith said.
change the results at Bristol.
“It was ‘Stewart Friesen and
wife ran one and two,’” she
said. “I’m looking forward to
changing that a little bit, those
saw it, it felt like: — yes, it’s the
Olympics.”
Setsuko Hashimoto, a
63-year-old local resident, was
emotional as the torch passed.
“Ten years ago there was a
nuclear accident so (seeing the
torch) it felt like I could really
look forward to something
and live,” she said. “When you
become my age, this is the last
Tokyo Olympics and it’s here.
It was very touching.”
Prime Minister Yoshihide
Suga chimed in from Tokyo
with a statement.
“The Olympic torch relay
starting from today is a valu-
able opportunity for the peo-
ple to get a real sense of the
Olympics and Paralympics
that are approaching,” Suga
told reporters.
Organizers confirmed a bit
of bad luck: the flame in the
torch was blown out during
one leg of the relay. As has
happened in other Olympics,
it was re-lit by a back-up lan-
tern that also carries the flame
that was kindled in Greece
more than a year ago.
Local organizers and the
International Olympic Com-
mittee hope the relay will turn
headlines a little bit.”
Jessica Friesen will have to
qualify her way into the race
via the four, 15-minute heat
races before the Saturday night
main event and the field is
stacked: There are seven full-
time Cup Series drivers among
the 44 trying to make the
36-truck field.
“This will be a story for our
grandkids someday,” Jessica
Friesen said. “No matter what
happens at this race, we went
and did this. We kind of went
out there, had fun and hope-
fully it turns out well. Hope-
fully, we’ll see. Who knows
what could happen. Stewart
says no pressure, so I’m just
going to keep having that men-
tality.”
Bristol has transformed its
concrete surface with 20,000
truckloads of clay in order to
host NASCAR’s first Cup race
on dirt in 70 years and the sur-
face has created multiple op-
portunities this weekend.
The day after the Truck Se-
ries race, Stewart Friesen will
make his first career Cup start,
picked by Spire Motorsports
to drive its No. 77 Chevrolet.
Stewart Friesen has more than
330 career wins in dirt modi-
fied racing and won the 2019
Truck Series race at Eldora
Speedway.
“It’s a dream come true to
compete in the Cup Series,”
Stewart Friesen said. “It’s the
pinnacle of motorsports in
North America. As a race
fan myself, it has always been
something I’ve dreamed about
doing. There’s some stuff we
can take from our dirt experi-
ence with the truck at Eldora
and apply to the Cup car, to
hopefully be very competitive
at Bristol.”
public opinion in Japan in
favor of the Olympics. Senti-
ments expressed in polls in Ja-
pan so far are overwhelmingly
negative with about 80% sug-
gesting another delay or can-
cellation.
The relay and the Olympics
both stir fear that the events
could spread the virus. There
is also opposition to the soar-
ing cost of staging the Olym-
pics, now put officially at $15.4
billion. Several audits suggest
it’s twice that much and a Uni-
versity of Oxford study says
these are the most expensive
Olympics on record.
The relay is a big test for
the upcoming Olympics with
fear among the public that the
event could spread the virus to
rural and more isolated parts
of the country. Vaccinations
have not been rolled out yet
in Japan to the general pub-
lic. About 9,000 deaths in the
country have been attributed
to COVID-19.
About 10,000 runners are
expected to take part, with the
relay touching Japan’s 47 pre-
fectures.
After the postponement a
year ago, there was early talk
of eliminating the relay to save
money. However, that idea
was quickly dropped with the
relay heavily sponsored by
Coca-Cola and Toyota.
The relay is a prelude to the
difficulties the Olympics and
Paralympics will present with
15,400 athletes entering Japan,
along with thousands of other
officials, judges, VIPs, media,
and broadcasters.
Athletes will be kept in a
“bubble” like atmosphere in
Tokyo and will be limited to
the Athletes Village on Tokyo
Bay, the competition venues
and training areas. Most oth-
ers will be outside the bubble
and will be kept at a distance
from the athletes.
Organizers announced a few
days ago that fans from abroad
will be banned from attending
the Olympics and Paralympics.
Most volunteers from abroad
have also been ruled out.
Organizers are to announce
the venue capacities in April.
Ticket revenue for the Olym-
pics was to be $800 million but
will be severely reduced by the
lack of fans. Japanese govern-
ment entities will have to make
up the shortfall.