Friday
Bristol Motor Speedway’s Caldwell Gives Patrick a Little Taste of Tennessee
Press Release
In an interview with Fox Sport’s Larry McReynolds during Media Day in Daytona last week, Patrick, who will compete in the March 19 Scotts EZ Seed 300 at BMS, jokingly said she didn’t know much about Bristol Motor Speedway. So little, in fact, that she wasn’t certain in which state it was located.
As of today, courtesy of BMS Executive Vice President and General Manager Jerry Caldwell, Patrick is well aware that the track is in Tennessee. Caldwell presented the Wisconsin-native with a basket full of items from, and representative of, the Volunteer State at her hauler in Daytona this afternoon. Included in the basket was:
n A Bristol Motor Speedway t-shirt
n Black Label Jack Daniels (founded in 1875 and still headquartered in Lynchburg)
n Goo Goo Clusters (developed in 1912 by the Standard Candy Company at Clark & First Avenue in Nashville; considered the world’s first ever combination candy bar)
n Moon Pies (a product of the Chattanooga Bakery)
n Apple Butter from Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. (founded and based in in Lebanon)
n Barbeque sauce from the famed Ridgewood Barbeque restaurant (Bluff City), just a few miles from Bristol Motor Speedway and once voted by People magazine some of the top barbeque in the country.
n A cookbook of Tennessee recipes
n These items were placed in a basket in the shape of Tennessee.
Surrounding that centerpiece were other items including:
n CDs from Tennessee artists: Elvis Presley (Memphis via Tupelo, Miss.), including a Sun Records (based in Memphis) compilation of early recording featuring Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins; Grammy-winner and Kennedy Center Honoree Dolly Parton (Sevierville); Grammy winner Usher (Chattanooga); Tennessee Ernie Ford (Bristol) and ACM Entertainer of the Year Kenny Chesney (Luttrell), who attended East Tennessee State University in Johnson City (20 miles from BMS) and recorded his first album in an independent studio in Bristol. Also included was a CD featuring the 50 greatest hits of Stax Records, formed in 1957 in Memphis.
n Movies: The NASCAR racing movie “Days of Thunder” featuring former United States Senator from the Volunteer State, Fred D. Thompson; and “Pulp Fiction” written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, born in Knoxville and a 2005 visitor to BMS.
n Books: “American Lion” about Andrew Jackson, the seventh President of the United States from the Nashville area, and Pulitzer Prize winners “All the King’s Men” by Robert Penn Warren (Clarksville) and “Roots” by Alex Haley (Henning)
n Items featuring two of the state’s most popular football teams: a Tennessee Vols football pillow and a Tennessee Titans wristband
“We’re thrilled to have Danica coming to Bristol Motor Speedway to race in a few weeks,” said Caldwell. “When I saw the interview where she said she didn’t know much about us, I figured the best way to introduce her to Tennessee was to show her some good old-fashioned southern hospitality.
“I wanted to give her a few things that are Tennessee-specific as a little welcoming gift. A lot of folks are looking forward to having her at Bristol Motor Speedway and we hope she’s looking forward to it too. It’s definitely going to be an exciting weekend of racing, and I know there are plenty of her fans who’ll be there for her Bristol debut.”
Tickets for the Scotts EZ Seed 300 are available and start at $45. Also available are tickets to the March 20 running of the Jeff Byrd 500 Presented by Food City, which are $93. Ford Fan Friday tickets for March 19 are only $5 and are just $4 for fans who have tickets to the Jeff Byrd 500.
A March race weekend package for both the Scotts EZ Seed 300 and the Jeff Byrd 500 can be purchased for as low as $99.
The 2011 season ticket package also is available and consists of the Jeff Byrd 500 Presented by Food City and the IRWIN Tools Night Race Sprint Cup events, as well as the Scotts EZ Seed 300 and Food City 250 Nationwide races. Also included are lower-priced options to add Pole Day (March 18) and the O’Reilly Auto Parts 200 Camping World Truck Series/UNOH Perfect Storm 150 Whelen Modified Series races (Aug. 24).
The Wallace Tower package is the lowest priced season ticket at BMS in 2011. The cost for the package is only $185 and includes special food and beverage discounts for season ticketholders.
For more information concerning tickets, please visit www.bristoltix.com or call the BMS ticket office at 423-BRISTOL (274-7865).
Speedway Motorsports is a leading marketer and promoter of motorsports entertainment in the United States. The Company, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates the following premier facilities: Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Infineon Raceway, Kentucky Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway. The Company provides souvenir merchandising services through its SMI Properties subsidiaries; manufactures and distributes smaller-scale, modified racing cars and parts through its U.S. Legend Cars International subsidiary; and produces and broadcasts syndicated motorsports programming to radio stations nationwide through its Performance Racing Network subsidiary. The Company also equally-owns Motorsports Authentics, a joint venture formed with International Speedway Corporation to produce market and sell licensed motorsports merchandise. For more information, visit the Company’s website at www.speedwaymotorsports.com
- Bristol Motor Speedway, Press Release
Article Tags: BMS, Bristol Motor Speedway, Danica Patrick, Jerry Caldwell, NASCAR, NASCAR Nationwide Series, NNS, No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet Impala SS
