Fiona Ma Loves Her Some Johnson, NASCAR

By Chris Roberts Mon., Jun. 21 2010 at 7:00 AM

Categories: Politics, Sports

Ma on track

The first Asian-American woman to be speaker pro tempore of the state Assembly, San Francisco westside rep Fiona Ma is also a NASCAR fan.

Ma tweeted both her attendance at Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma and her support in Sacramento chambers of government for El Cajon's own Jimmie Johnson. Johnson is the four-time defending NASCAR points champion (a record), and he drove away with another victory on Sunday -- his first at Infineon -- after receiving a boost from Ma.

Before Sunday's race started, Ma strolled around pit row. Just before the checkered flag, she tweeted about "My 5 seconds of Fame @ NASCAR: giving CA native #48 Jimmie Johnson a Reso. He's first 2 win 4 consecutive NASCAR championships!"

Ma wasn't the only 415 luminary at the races Sunday: former 49ers Super Bowl MVP Roger Craig was the grand marshal.

It's unsure how long Ma has followed stock car racing; a staffer didn't respond to an e-mail request for comment on Sunday. However, she is an active Twitter user, and we are fairly positive every one of her tweets is her, and not a staffer being all new media.

Like most assemblypeople -- and heck, most people -- the chairwoman of the High Speed Rail Caucus also had money on her mind at the track Sunday: A second tweet noted that NASCAR's total economic impact on California is a cool $200 million. Maybe Toyota/Save Mart can sponsor Bring Your Own Big Wheel.

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