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Tiger Woods to Drive Stock Car in Charity Race

This Monday Tiger Woods will jump into a speedway stock car in New Zealand to participate in a charity race at the north island town of Huntly, as Steve Williams, Woods` caddy, said last week. The event coinciding with the New Zealand round of the V8 Super car Championship at Pukekohe, south of Auckland.

"He was practicing his putting one day and I said `I`ve got a question for you Tiggy. How about the chance of driving a stock car?`. He said `I`m in`," Williams told a news conference in Auckland. "I said it`s going to be a proper stock car race in an event and he said: `I can`t wait. When are we doing it?` It didn`t take him much convincing." Stock car racing in New Zealand typically takes place on a narrow enclosed oval dirt track with plenty of contact between competitors` cars. "If they knock me off, I can knock them off. The whole idea is to have fun," Woods told the news conference, adding that insurance had been "taken care of." New Zealander Williams, his country`s speedway Super Saloon champion, said he doubted Woods would have any problems.

The format involves two teams of five, led by former All Blacks captain Tana Umaga and Woods, with the cars doing 12 laps of the 7,000-capacity Huntly Speedway. "The whole idea of this event is a charity event and will hopefully broaden the spectrum of speedway," Williams said. Money raised from the event will go to the Steve Williams Foundation, which provides funding for young sports people who cannot afford coaching and to help with sport-related tertiary education opportunities.