It’s good to see Yao get out and get a break from the depressing news from the earthquake in China — Raymond reports that Yao Ming and two-time U.S. Olympic taekwondo gold medalist Steven Lopez were introduced to the world of NASCAR as honorary pit crew members for Kyle Petty‘s No. 45 Coca-Cola team in the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

Some of the activities included:

* Leading a moment of silence for the Chinese earthquake victims.

* In crew uniforms, Yao and Lopez changing tires and performing other pit crew duties with Petty and the No. 45 Coca-Cola car.

* Yao and the Coca-Cola Racing Family drivers shooting hoops and playing “Around the World” in Victory Lane.

*Lopez providing taekwondo tips to Coca-Cola Racing Family drivers.

* The media shooting baskets with Yao.

Click here for more photos of Yao at these events. Thanks Raymond!

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 25th, 2008 at 6:45 pm and is filed under Rockets' off-season. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.