Members of the media stretch across the crawlerway to interview 2008 Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman.

Members of the media stretch across the crawlerway on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center to interview 2008 Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman (center right). At left is Daytona International Speedway President Robin Braig. The Daytona International Speedway show car, shown here, is in sharp contrast to the crawler-transporter that usually travels the special road to the pad at a maximum speed of 2 mph. Newman is visiting Kennedy in honor of NASA's 50th anniversary and the 50th running of NASCAR's Daytona 500 in February. NASA presented Newman two green racing flags that were flown last February aboard space shuttle Atlantis' STS-122 mission to the International Space Station. One flag was given to Newman, the second was presented to Daytona 500 Experience General Manager Kim Isemann. A third flag that was flown will be kept by NASA for public display. The connection between NASA and Daytona's International Speedway extends beyond their close proximity to one another. During recent years, technology developed for the space program has found many uses on Earth, including helping NASCAR drivers stay safe and increase performance. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett