Get real. Go fast. John Elway was spotted Friday night sharing a booth in Elway’s restaurant with his wowza girlfriend and the singer Jewel and her rodeo cowboy boyfriend, Ty Murray.
Jewel was in town to sing at a benefit concert Saturday night. But how did this gang become buddies?
Seems Elway, Jewel and Murray are all participating in a NASCAR celebrity reality series: “Fast Cars & Superstars – The Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race.” The six 30-minute episodes and a one-hour finale were shot last month at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in North Carolina and will debut on ABC on June 7.
The Gillette team will coach the stars – a roster that includes Elway, Jewel, Murray, “Boston Legal’s” William Shatner, former Piston/Fox analyst John Salley, WWE champ John Cena, tennis champ Serena Williams, actress Krista Allen, former Steelers coach Bill Cowher, skateboarder Tony Hawk and surfer Laird Hamilton with his wife, volleyballer Gabrielle Reece. The reality series ends with a race between the stars. Start your engines!
So it goes
Mayor John Hickenlooper was particularly touched at the passing of author Kurt Vonnegut last week. Seems Hick’s dad lived next to Vonnegut in a frat house at Cornell. They were great buddies – and Vonnegut even sent in a video for the Make-a-Wish Hickenlooper Roast, claiming to be Hick’s actual dad.
“He was one of the greatest writers of American literature,” Hick told me. “He was a great person to a great many people.”
Winos
Probably the best wine-tasting of the year comes down Friday at the Denver Art Museum’s Uncorked. Former “Bachelor” Andrew Firestone will even be there. Check it out at denverartmuseum.org/uncorked.
And everyone’s favorite oenophile Bill St. John comes back from Chicago to host the June 15 Planned Parenthood funder Choice Affairs with Dana Crawford and Nancy and Bob Schulein in a LoDo loft.
Cost is $150 per person; call Holly at 303-813-7704.
City spirit
The rich are different – but they have garage sales, too. Local philanthropist Sharon Magness Blake is holding a “Personal Inventory Reduction Sale” May 11 at her Englewood home; proceeds go to the Thunder Foundation. She’s selling “Racks of ‘What-was-I-thinking!’ items that are: Never worn, Worn once, Hardly worn.” Sorry, invitation only … Giants’ star player Barry Bonds was spotted having lunch Monday at the Palm … Former Broncos QB Brian Griese has found a townhouse in Cherry Creek North so he can be near his Denver-based charity Judi’s House … Former Denverite Sylvia Cranmer McLaughlin gets a shout-out for saving San Francisco Bay in Vanity Fair’s latest Green Issue. Shout-downs go to former Rep. Bob Beauprez and former secretary of the Interior Gale Norton, both residents in Dante’s Inferno: Green Edition. Beauprez is a “grafter,” Norton is way down in the Ninth Circle … Sez who: “The science is clear. The global-warming debate is over.” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
Bill Husted’s column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Husted also appears Tuesdays and Fridays on “Good Day Colorado” on Fox 31. You can reach him at 303-954-1486 or bhusted@denverpost.com. Take a peek at Husted’s next column at denverpostbloghouse .com/husted
