Food City is gearing up for this weekend’s historic return of the Food City 500 to Bristol Motor Speedway. Earlier today, company officials announced that several NASCAR legends will serve as the event Grand Marshals, delivering the starting command for Sunday’s clash.
“We’re excited about the return of the Food City 500 to Bristol Motor Speedway. As their longest running sponsor, we’re proud to have some of the drivers and team owners who helped make this sport great serving as our event grand marshals,” said Steven C. Smith, Food City president and chief executive officer.
Food City began their NASCAR series title sponsor in 1992. Celebrating over 30 years of racing, the supermarket retailer is Bristol Motor Speedway’s longest running race entitlement sponsor and the second longest in NASCAR.
The all-star Grand Marshal line-up includes seven-time NASCAR champion - Richard Petty, Kyle Petty – racing commentator and analyst, Richard Childress - chairman and chief executive officer of Richard Childress Racing, and Joe Gibbs – owner and founder of Joe Gibbs Racing.
“Our sponsorship has been filled with lots of great memories and action-packed moments. Our first trip to Victory Lane in 1992 with Alan Kulwicki to celebrate his first win at Bristol, joining Dale Earnhardt in Victory Lane at the Food City 500, Jeff Gordon’s three wins in a row, Rusty Wallace’s 50th win at Bristol, Elliott Sadler’s first cup series win at Bristol, and the Busch boys’ domination at different times in Bristol’s history. We look forward to continuing this great partnership with our friends at Bristol Motor Speedway for many years to come,” says Smith.
Doug Rice, Performance Racing Network president and lead anchor will serve as Honorary Starter, waving the green flag to unleash the pack on Sunday.
“Doug has had such a tremendous impact on motorsports throughout his career, and we wanted to honor his commitment to our company, the fans, the drivers, and the sport as a whole during his final NASCAR season in the broadcast booth,” says Smith.
Food City is the title sponsor of the spring NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 and the fall Food City 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series race. The historic Food City 500 gets under way at 3:30 p.m. on St. Patrick’s Day - Sunday, March 17th.
