FanHouse KellyClarkson

Every time you think athletes are pampered, rich and famous, remember that "regular" celebrities are even more pampered and even more famous (rich is debatable). Take, for instance, the comparison of Chipper Jones and Kelly Clarkson.

To those of us who care deeply about athletics, Chipper is immensely famous. More so than Clarkson anyway. But to the rest of the world, Clarkson >>> Larry when it comes to fame. And she let him know it the other night too. From ESPN the Mag outtakes with Kenny Mayne via LBS:

KM: Do you get recognized everywhere you go by now?

CJ: Funny story about that. Last year I was at the Daytona 500 with a friend and Richard Childress. Kelly Clarkson, who had sung before the race, came into the room. She walked my way, looking at me like she knew who I was, so I started to put out my hand. Then she pulls out a camera and asks me to take a photo of her and her friends. My buddy lost it. I'm from Daytona, so everybody knows me there. I was so embarrassed that I just wanted to go get a beer. Boy, was I put out.

That's like the time I tried to talk to Fantasia when she was in High Point and she totally blew me off. ("But I blog for a living! What's not to get?") Only if I was a successful baseball player and she was still famous for her American Idol run.

In other words, embarrassing, yes, but big deal? Absolutely not. That's why Chipper's laughing about it in the back page of an overly dramatic sports mag.

Grammy Award Winner Kelly Clarkson, who is kicking off her NASCAR spokeswoman duties this weekend at Daytona International Speedway, experienced a couple of shocks to her system today.

The first was a close call with her bladder during a ride-along with reigning Nextel Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson:

"I literally almost peed myself. It was scary. I didn't like today. Jimmie did a really good job driving it. I was just really scared. ... I almost got sick. I don't know how they do that over and over and over. I just felt like we were going to crash the whole time. I was probably making him nervous. I didn't scream or anything, so I wasn't that much of a wuss."

She was still reeling from the first jolt when she found out that fellow pop star Britney Spears had shaved her head.

"OK, are y'all kidding? Somebody just told me that out there, and I think that's a joke. She does not have a shaved head. Are you for real?"

No joke.

"Wow. Hey, Sinead O'Connor. Right on. She's bringing it back. She's Britney Spears. She can do whatever she wants. It will end up being cool. Somebody will start shaving their head; everybody will. I find that hard to believe until I see a picture."

Then she saw the picture.

"Well, she's still hot. So whatever. If you can pull that off, go for it. I like my hair, so I'm keeping it. ... That's crazy."

Clarkson's Daytona 500 Pick:

"I'm Kasey Kahne all the way. Those pretty blue eyes, whew!""

Well, there go NASCAR's matchmaking plans. Sounds like NASCAR's American Idol is already smitten.