CULTURES COLLIDE AS NASCAR MAKES PIT STOP IN HOLLYWOOD

           In Philadelphia, Bill Fleischman writes that "NASCAR's
     Night In Hollywood" last Friday, broadcast on ESPN, was
     "smoothly produced and everyone seemed to have a good time,"
     but "you had the feeling many presenters wouldn't know
     Richard Petty from Richard Benjamin" (PHILADELPHIA DAILY
     NEWS, 5/6).  In Orlando, Juliet Macur reported that film
     director Oliver Stone, who presented Petty with NASCAR's
     Lifetime Achievement Award, congratulated him for his 200
     seasons, not his 200 wins.  Stone, on NASCAR: "I'm certainly
     aware of the sport.  This is sort of a new sport, isn't it?" 
     Macur: "The faux pas was just an example of what happens
     when 50 years of NASCAR racing smacked head-on with
     Hollywood."  Macur wrote that provocative dance numbers
     during the event were "a far cry from NASCAR's down-to-earth
     persona."  Actor John Schneider: "I'm embarrassed about the
     kind of show put on here, with all of the women dancing
     around in garter belts and black boots. ... Hollywood thinks
     NASCAR needs help and needs to be hyped up, but they just
     don't know any better" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 5/3).