American sports icon and evangelist Tim Tebow will join highly acclaimed and award-winning Christian musicians Phil Wickham and Cory Asbury to headline Bristol Motor Speedway’s live Easter celebration service on Sunday, April 9, prior to the start of the historic Food City Dirt Race.
The Easter celebration will begin at 4 p.m. (ET) on the BMS Fan Midway Stage near the E Parking Lot between the Green and Orange bridges. Tebow, who grew up the son of missionaries, founded the Tim Tebow Foundation in 2010 to “bring faith, hope and love to those needing a brighter day in their darkest hour of need,” will provide the faith message during the service while Asbury and Wickham will perform several of their most popular songs. Additionally, several other speakers from the NASCAR industry will make appearances, including Motor Racing Outreach chaplain Billy Mauldin.
The BMS Easter celebration precedes the start of the Food City Dirt Race NASCAR Cup Series race, which is scheduled to take the green flag at 7 p.m. (ET) and air nationally on FOX and PRN Radio.
“We are thrilled and humbled to provide our guests with such an amazing lineup of prominent worship leaders in Tim Tebow, Phil Wickham and Cory Asbury to headline our Easter Celebration prior to the start of the Food City Dirt Race,” said Jerry Caldwell, president and general manager, Bristol Motor Speedway. “Our racing community and fan base is strong in faith and we are very proud and honored to gather together with everyone to worship and celebrate at this important event on Easter weekend once again at Bristol Motor Speedway.”
Tim Tebow has been sharing faith messages from a young age when he decided to dedicate his life to spreading God’s word and serving the needy. His platform was amplified when he burst onto the national sports scene in the early 2000s as quarterback for the Florida Gators. Under his leadership and stellar play the Gators won BCS championships in 2006 and 2008. Tebow is a past recipient of the prestigious Heisman Trophy among many awards and accolades he received during his prolific college football career. He played three seasons in the NFL and also played five years of Minor League Baseball for the New York Mets farm system. Tebow currently serves as an analyst for ESPN’s coverage of college football.
Tebow is also the author of five New York Times Best Selling books. Two of his works have claimed notoriety, including “Through My Eyes,” ranked the No. 1 sports and religion book of 2011, and in 2017 his book “Shaken: “Discovering your True Identity in the Midst of Life’s Storms” was named the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association Book of the Year.
“I’m so excited to join with my friends Phil Wickham, K-LOVE, NASCAR and Bristol Motor Speedway for an amazing Easter celebration," Tebow said.
San Diego native Phil Wickham has been described as a leader in the modern worship movement and he has claimed many awards for his contemporary Christian music, including being nominated for two Grammy Awards as well as multiple Billboard Music Awards. His Gold-certified single “This is Amazing Grace” was his first career No. 1 single.
Florida native Cory Asbury grew up in Franklin, North Carolina and started his music career at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City. In 2019 the double-platinum selling artist was nominated for a Grammy for his album Reckless Love in the Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance category. The title track spent 18 weeks at No. 1 on Christian Radio and was named song of the year in the Contemporary Christian category by multiple music rating houses. He claimed GMA Dove Awards for several of his hits including “Reckless Love” and “The Father’s House.”
The Bristol race weekend is highlighted by the NASCAR Cup Series returning to its roots with the Food City Dirt Race on Sunday evening, April 9 (7 p.m., FOX and PRN Radio). The WEATHER GUARD® Truck Race on Dirt will see the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series take to the clay-covered track on Saturday (8 p.m., FS1 and MRN Radio) and will be preceded by Bush’s Beans Qualifying, which offers four heat races to set the starting lineups in each series. On Friday, teams in both the Cup Series and Craftsman Truck Series will be able to fine-tune their machines during Bush’s Beans Practice Day.
In addition to cheering on their favorite drivers during the weekend and enjoying the Easter Celebration, Bristol Motor Speedway fans will definitely want to take advantage of so many activities to make a complete weekend of family fun. There will be great video entertainment provided by Colossus TV, the world's largest center-hung video screen, premium VIP experiences like the Super Fan Suites, tailgating, a visit to the BMS Kids Zone, BMS Fan Zone and Fan Midway, on-site camping, concerts and other entertainment at the Food City Fan Zone Stage like the Race Day Revival with Kenny Wallace and John Roberts, great food and beverages in the concession stands throughout the property, and so much more.
To purchase tickets for Sunday's Food City Dirt Race or Saturday's WEATHER GUARD® Truck Race on Dirt and Bush’s Beans Qualifying, please visit the BMS website, or call the BMS Ticket Sales Center at (866) 415-4158.
