NASCAR and Darwin's twine ball

If you're like me, you're always on the lookout for events combining your interest in NASCAR with a fascination for giant twine balls. Well, this is your lucky week! On Thursday at 3:25 p.m., former NASCAR driver Kyle Petty and some of his celebrity buddies are going to be tooling through Darwin, Minn., on their motorcycles and make a stop during a charity ride across America.

Darwin is about 75 minutes west of Minneapolis on Hwy. 12, and if you've heard of it, chances are Francis A. Johnson had something to do with it. Johnson created what's billed as the "World's Largest Twine Ball Rolled by One Man," an important distinction because some headline-grabbing weasels in Cawker City, Mo., have created a larger twine ball by accepting contributions from visitors and townsfolk with extra twine on their hands. Some people have no ethics when it comes to twine collection.

Johnson was on a roll, literally, until he stopped spooling his twine ball in 1979. It weighs nearly nine tons, is 12 feet wide and, as if further evidence of awesomeness should be necessary, has been immortalized in song by Weird Al Yankovic. Even in a state that celebrates the eelpout and towering fictional lumberjacks, that's pretty cool. Petty stopped in Darwin while scouting ahead for this year's ride and became enamored with the ball, which is enclosed in a plexiglass and wood gazebo along First Street. (It's easy to find, because there aren't many second and third streets in downtown Darwin.)

"[Kyle Petty] was so impressed with our enshrined twine attraction that he altered the route to make a stop in Darwin," Darwin Mayor Josh Johnson told the Dassel Cokato Enterprise Dispatch.

And who are some of the celebs joining Kyle on this excursion, you ask? His father, NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty, is one of them, along with former drivers Donnie Allison, Harry Gant and Hershel McGriff. And yet another Herschel -- former bobsled racer and running back Herschel Walker, who I'm sure would love to hear your take on that infamous 1989 trade that brought him to the Vikings from the Cowboys for five players, eight draft choices and a large pail of Sweet Martha's chocolate chip cookies.

NBC NASCAR sportscaster Rick Allen also will be there, as well as 1980 Heisman Trophy winner George Rogers and Harley-Davidson Museum president Bill Davidson -- perhaps not all A-list personalities, but certainly better than the cast of guest stars on the average rerun of "The Love Boat."

The ride benefits Victory Junction, which provides camping experiences for children with chronic or life-threatening illnesses, so head for Darwin on Thursday on/in your two-, four- or 18-wheeler, blow the cobwebs off your wallet and make a donation. No donating twine for the ball, however. The citizens of Darwin are above that sort of thing.