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Here comes the vrooooom

Wendy Mullinax faced the prospect of a wedding for 100,000 when rain forced NASCAR to reschedule the Winston 500 to May 10.

That’s the day Mullinax was supposed to marry Felix Burns at Dry Valley Baptist Church, across the street from Talladega Superspeedway.

Instead, she scurried to move the wedding up to last Friday to avoid a giant traffic snarl and pulled it off with the help of the raceway, which paid for new invitations and for rescheduling the photographer.

Ironically, the family had a possible rainout in mind when they chose May 10 for the wedding.

“We figured if there was a rainout, they would come back the next week,” Mullinax said.

But there was a race in California on that date.

“Growing up around here, I went to every single race from time I was 2 to 16,” Mullinax said. “Through all this, I still consider myself a race fan.”

Yeah, until her hubby wants to go to the Winston 500 on their anniversary.

All circuits are busy

Mark McGwire doesn’t just hit home runs. He hits Jupiter probes.

And a shot he launched in Cleveland might be his most stupendous ever. It cleared the 19-foot-high fence in left-center, 370 feet from home plate. It sailed over 23 rows of seats and 10 more feet of concrete, then splattered off the top of the Budweiser sign that sits at the base of the scoreboard beyond the bleachers.

“If it hadn’t hit the scoreboard,” said Tribe catcher Sandy Alomar, “it could have gone all the way around the world and hit me in the back of the head.”

To the naked eye, this seemed like the home run of the century. But to the Network MCI Home Run Distance calculators, this wasn’t even McGwire’s longest of the month.

A blast to the roof in Detroit was estimated at 491 feet. This one was estimated at only 485.

“I’ve totally lost respect for MCI on that distance,” said A’s reliever Mark Acre. “I’m even going to change my phone company. The only thing they don’t underestimate is my bill.”

And what about Dennis Rodman on Trix?

Cheerios is joining Wheaties by putting sports figures on the box cover - with a twist.

In a celebration of amateur athletics, four high school squads were selected for covers for a new cereal, Team Cheerios: the Oregon City Pioneers girls basketball team, the Westminster Christian baseball team from Miami, the Northampton girls softball team from Allentown, Pa., and the Lewisville football team from Texas.

“The four teams exemplify what teamwork can accomplish,” said Chris Helle of General Mills.

Any amateur youth team is eligible to be selected for a cover.

Something tells us the Taiwanese Little League is exempt, however.

Kids say the darnedest things

After winning a hitting contest in the Astrodome, 9-year-old J.P. Ramirez told Astros slugger Jeff Bagwell: “Your batting stance is all wrong.”

The last word …

“I’m on a diet of bananas and seaweed. It doesn’t make me a better player, but I’m a better swimmer.”

- Gordon Strachan, player-manager of the Coventry soccer team in England

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo