Short Cuts: Jeff Gordon Attends a Costume Gala

And so here are a lot of the things I’ve been meaning to post this week.

-- Jeff Gordon escorted his wife, Ingrid Vandebosch to the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Gala on Monday night. The theme of the night was "Superheroes" and I think Ingrid was trying to channel Zorro with her flamenco inspired dress. It was good enough to make the "good" part of Jezebel's "The Good, The Bad & The Ugly" list for the night.

-- In case you hadn't heard this Sunday is Mother's Day and as is customary some of the NASCAR drivers' moms will be in attendance at the Dodge Challenger 500 at Darlington Raceway on Saturday. The mothers will be introduced with their sons during driver introductions and will also give the guys the go ahead to start their engines.

Casey Mears' mom, Carol, will be there this weekend and Casey had this to say about her: "My mom is a great lady. She has been there for me and my racing career since the beginning. She still does a lot for me and my company, Casey Mears Inc. She's just always there and is honestly one of the best people I know.

"It's cool what Darlington does for all of the mothers on Mother's Day weekend. I know that it gives my mom a good perspective of what I do each weekend with walking across the stage and waving to the fans -- what I see and hear every race day. I know that every year she wears heels and every year she is so nervous and worried that she's going to fall. She doesn't really like the steps much."

-- Brian Vickers' mom Ramona will also be at Darlington tomorrow and she had this to say about Brian:

"All you want is for your child to be successful, and every mother wants their child to be happy," Ramona Vickers said. "I'm so proud of Brian -- his actions, what he says, how he drives. I supported him in whatever he chose to do, and he chose NASCAR."

There have been times where a mother's instinct kicks in.

"He's made us nervous a little bit," she said, "but as you progress in your career, there's a little more protection as far as safety. I'm more worried about who's around him (in traffic), but I think he's sometimes safer in the race car as he is out on the streets. I feel confident that the team is on its game with safety."

-- Kurt Busch is set it unveil the new Kurt Busch Superdome at the Victory Junction Gang Camp on Tuesday, May 20th at 2 p.m.:

The project was announced in May 2006, with Kurt announcing the donation of the initial $1 million in support of the project. The facility will provide opportunities for indoor sports in a climate-controlled environment. "It'll be like seeing a dream come true to finally get the doors open and see all the kids enjoying themselves,” said Kurt. "It's been a labor of love for all of the people involved and I'm so proud and grateful to have the opportunity to make a contribution in this manner to the Petty camp." Officials are still ironing out all the final details. Several entertainment and sports figures are expected to attend including members of the Carolina Panthers and Ryan Newman, 2008 Daytona 500 Champion, Kurt’s teammate at Penske Racing.

-- And since we're on the subject of Penske Racing, wanna meet Ryan Newman? He will be at the Alltel Store in Concord, North Carolina (6140 Bayfield Parkway) from 6-8 p.m. on May 14th, 2008. There will be a chance to get autographs from Ryan and win prizes too!

Newman will be part of a webcast from the store at 7:30 p.m. ET, which will be broadcast on www.alltelracing.com. Fans can submit questions for Newman through the Alltel Racing web site.

Topics: NASCAR , Jeff Gordon , Wives/Girlfriends , Casey Mears