There’s a scene in the 2008 film “Gran Torino” in which curmudgeonly racist Walt Kowalski sits on his front porch quietly reflecting on life while slurping through a supply of Pabst Blue Ribbon. He only accepts a party invite from his Hmong neighbors after he realizes his cooler is empty, and as he later snags what looks to be a Tsingtao from their fridge, he says:
“Well, no Pabst, but plenty of beer.”
Because of course PBR is what Clint Eastwood’s character, a Korean War veteran and proud American, would drink …. in 2008.
Maybe not in 2021.
Though the beer’s still produced in the U.S., Pabst Brewing Co. was acquired last year by a Russian-owned beverage company. It joined a long and lengthening list of iconic American beer brands that over the last two decades have been sold to or merged with foreign and multinational entities, including Miller Brewing, Coors and Anheuser-Busch, which is owned by a Belgium-based company.
Gossage made the announcement via a release from Texas Motor Speedway.
Gossage has worked at Speedway Motorsports for nearly three decades with much of that time spent at Texas Motor Speedway. The All-Star race will be at Texas for the first time in its history on June 13.
“The timing just feels right after 32 years with the company,” Gossage said in a statement. “The Smith family and Speedway Motorsports changed my life and I will forever be appreciative and grateful. Before my wife Melinda and I chart our next adventure, I’m thankful that I get to come full circle as a promoter with the NASCAR All-Star Race.”
Fargo, ND, USA / 740 The FAN
May 13, 2021 | 12:01 PM
In this Feb. 27, 2019, file photo, Eddie Gossage, Texas Motor Speedway president, speaks during the track s media day in Fort Worth, Texas. Eddie Gossage is stepping down after overseeing the track s first 25 seasons of racing. Gossage said Thursday, May 13, 2021, that his final event at the track will be NASCAR s All-Star race June 13, which will be a full-circle ending to his 32 years working for Speedway Motorsports and Bruton Smith. (Ross Hailey/Star-Telegram via AP, File)
FORT WORTH, Texas Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage is stepping down after overseeing the track since it opened 24 years ago.
Eddie Gossage stepping down after 24 years as president at Texas Motor Speedway
Eddie Gossage, an old-school promoter mentored by NASCAR s pioneers, will retire after 25 years as president of Texas Motor Speedway following next month s NASCAR All-Star Race.
Gossage has spent 32 years working for Speedway Motorsports and learned the art of selling tickets, packing grandstands and turning races into spectacles from company founder Bruton Smith and longtime executive Humpy Wheeler.
He was a young public relations director at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1992 when, during a news conference to promote NASCAR s first nighttime All-Star race, one of his stunts literally set Smith s hair on fire. When Smith threw the giant light switch rigged by Gossage to highlight the Charlotte speedway s new lighting system, sparks flew.