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Leno living in the fast lane with Daytona Speedway spin

"The Tonight Show" host and automobile enthusiast Jay Leno took a spin around the Daytona International Speedway to get ready for his role in the Daytona 500.

"I'm going 130 mph and there are no cops behind me � it's the greatest day of my life," Leno said Friday as he prepared for the Feb. 17 racing event, when he will help pace the opening laps.

With the Daytona race, Leno becomes the first driver to pace America's three biggest racing events.

Last year he was the pace car driver for the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400, both at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

14-year marriage faces extinction

"Jurassic Park" author Michael Crichton has filed for divorce from his fourth wife, his publicist said.

The author of the sci-fi novels "The Andromeda Strain" and "Sphere" separated from Anne-Marie Martin last summer and has since filed to end their marriage of 14 years, according to the writer's spokesman, Joseph Marich.

Crichton, 59, lives in California with their 12-year-old daughter, Taylor.

Not everybody loves Raymond's children, especially show creator

Children are best not seen and not heard in the world of "Everybody Loves Raymond."

Even though Ray Romano's character in the hit CBS comedy has three kids, they're rarely seen. The show's creator, Phil Rosenthal, said he wanted to do an adult sitcom.

Besides, Rosenthal believes that child actors quickly wear out their welcome with television audiences.

"I wasn't interested in doing a show about cute kids," Rosenthal said. "I wanted to do a show about people who have kids."

A little help from his friends

Trace Adkins can tell you that there's a downside to getting your own way. If a project flops, it's all yours.

"On my third album ... I exercised pretty much complete creative control over what I did," he told reporters. "I did exactly what I wanted to do, cut what I wanted to cut and it sold the least copies of anything I've ever done."

So when it came time to record his new album, "Chrome," Adkins told the record label, "Hey, help me."

There was, however, one song he wanted on the disc: "I'm Tryin'," a song about the aftermath of divorce, the challenge of working life and the need to keep going after setbacks.

Adkins says the song, which is in the Top 10 on Billboard magazine's country singles chart, has its critics and defenders.

"When we do it on the road the people that really zero in on the lyric, they get it and we get that good response," he said.