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March NASCAR Sprint Cup Event named Jeff Byrd 500, Presented by Food City

BRISTOL, Tenn. (Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2011) – To honor Jeff Byrd, the dynamic President and General Manager of Bristol Motor Speedway who passed away last October, Food City officials  today announced the March 20 NASCAR Sprint Cup event at Bristol Motor Speedway will carry a new name.

Known since 1992 as the Food City 500, the spring event at Bristol Motor Speedway for 2011 is billed as the Jeff Byrd 500, presented by Food City.

“Jeff Byrd was more than a business partner, he was a true friend to our company, our associates and to me and my family personally,” said Food City President and CEO Steven C. Smith. “He spent years putting his guests first and instilling that attitude in his team”.

“We are all convinced that Jeff absolutely would not have wanted us to do this, as his focus was always on keeping the guests and sponsors of Bristol Motor Speedway front and center, but that’s one of the reasons that this time, we’re putting Jeff out front.  It’s only natural to honor someone who worked so hard to build this facility, this sport and this region.”

Bristol Motor Speedway Vice President and General Manager Jerry Caldwell said he was speechless when Smith made the offer to honor Byrd, who guided BMS and its employees for 15 years.

“Right after we agreed to the partnership extension, Steve looked me right in the eye and said ‘What are we going to do to honor Jeff?’” said Caldwell.  “I told him we were talking about some different things and wanted to know what he had in mind. He said ‘I want to name the race for him.’”

“I was blown away. Here was a guy who had just agreed to a three year contract extension — and that’s not free — and was sitting there offering to give up the race name for a year. I absolutely didn’t know what to say. It was Jeff who coached us to exceed expectations and it was his effort to stay in the background that made us all so aware of his presence.”

Darrell Waltrip, the winningest driver in the history of Bristol Motor Speedway with 12 trophies was in Bristol for the announcement.

“I knew Jeff Byrd for years,” said the three-time Cup champion. “I first met him when he was with R.J. Reynolds and then our friendship grew when he took over this place. For a sponsor to do something like this is one of the coolest things I’ve seen and I am glad I was here to be a part of it.”

Bristol Motor Speedway kicks off its 50th NASCAR season with Ford Fan Friday qualifying March 18, followed by the Scotts EZ Seed 300 March 19 and the Jeff Byrd 500, Presented by Food City March 20. In August, night racing returns with the Aug. 24 O’Reilly Auto Parts 200 and UNOH Perfect Storm 150 doubleheader, followed by the Food City 250 Aug. 26 and the IRWIN Tools Night Race Aug. 27.

Tickets are available to all events and may be purchased by calling the BMS ticket office toll free at 1-866-415-4158, 423-BRISTOL (274-7865) or 423-989-6900 or by visiting www.bristoltix.com.

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.

Headquartered in Abingdon, Virginia, K-VA-T Food Stores, Inc. (Food City’s parent company) operates 106 retail food outlets throughout the tri-state regions of Southeast Kentucky, Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee.

Transcript from today’s announcement:

Darrell Waltrip: I have won this race when it was the Valleydale 500, Busch 500, the Volunteer 500, pretty much any name or sponsor, I’ve won it. We knew they were doing something with the name, all the way up here, Rusty and I argued about what they were going to name it. I said it might be me, and he said it might be him.

When we got here, we figured out it was much bigger than either one of us. For the race in March, we’re going to have a new name. One driver is going to have the opportunity to do something no other driver will have an opportunity to do… to win a race here in honor of Jeff Byrd.

In all my years of being around race tracks, I knew no one that was more loved, more respected than Jeff Byrd. The things Jeff did here at Bristol, the things he did in the community, the things he did in the sport, no one can match what Jeff has done. It is an honor to be here with Claudia and the family to make this announcement.

I know, Rusty, Jeff was a friend to both of us when he was with RJ Reynolds and when he came here. What an honor and what a thrill that someone is going to win the Jeff Byrd 500.

Rusty Wallace: Well said Darrell, no doubt about that. This is like an inaugural event. The winner can be the only person to say I won the Jeff Byrd 500. It will only happen one time. Jeff was so special to so many people. That is one of the reasons I love to come here. The people here are so nice. The guy really appreciated people for coming. I’m so excited we’re going to have this race named after Jeff. I want to thank the people from Food City for doing this. He is a great guy. I wish I was still driving so I could win that race.

DW: I do too. Jeff, I know you’re looking and listening…this is far and away the right thing to do for the right guy at the right time. God Bless you.

Jerry Caldwell: What an honor and what a tribute. After we agreed to the extension, it was just Steve and I… and he said, “I have something else I want to talk about.”  I said, “Ok.” He said, “What are we going to do to honor Jeff?” I said, “Well we have some ideas, we have a committee that is working on some things.” He said, “Well I’ve got an idea. For one year, Food City wants to give up the name of the race. We want it to be the Jeff Byrd 500.” We know what Jeff would think. He wouldn’t want the spotlight. He would want it on Food City and would want them to have the attention. But he meant so much to Steve and the Food City family, it is the perfect tribute and honor to pay our respect to Jeff and honor him that way. We have some big things planned with this and the 50th Anniversary.

Steve Smith: I’m not sure Jeff would approve of what Jerry and I are doing. I said if we get rained out… (Laughter). It is special to do this. Jeff meant a lot, not to just Food City or racing, but to the region. Jeff meant so much to the entire area, what we want to do is perpetuate the work that Jeff and Claudia and the Bristol group has done. Not only do they host great races, they have built the region. They give people a reason to come to our region, a reason to showcase our region. When people think of Bristol, they don’t necessarily think of the Bristol area, they think of Bristol Motor Speedway.

Jerry, there is one more thing we are excited to do. We are fortunate enough to have 106 stores. One of Jeff’s philosophies was to exceed expectations. He truly believed in exceeding expectations… whether it was fans, sponsors or the communities. Many of us wear these exceeding expectation wristbands and we think it is important to give our communities the opportunity to do that as well. Here in a few days, we are going to sell these Jeff Byrd 500 commemorative wristbands in all of our Food City stores. We are going to sell them for $2.50 each and all of the proceeds that we raise will go to the Jeff Byrd Foundation. It will help carry on the work Jeff believed in. We are excited by that.

- Bristol Motor Speedway, Press Release