Food City brings racing closer to the fans

Food City (a 90-plus store regional supermarket chain with headquarters in Abingdon, Virginia) has a long association in backing events at Bristol Motor Speedway. In 1992, Food City began its sponsorship of the spring NEXTEL Cup Food City 500 and the August Busch Series Food City 500.

In addition to sponsoring the races, the Food City colors often are seen on a variety of cars competing in Bristol races. Food City’s actual racing involvement goes back to the late 1980s and the company’s sponsorship roots lie in the formation of its highly-popular Food City Family Race Nights.  In 1987, Food City hosted driver Terry Labonte and car owner Junior Johnson in the parking lot of its Eastman Road Food City in Kingsport, Tennessee.  The rest as they say, is history. 

Food City Family Race Nights blossomed into full-fledge pre-race events and now pack in thousands of fans.  The events also generate money for a variety of regional charities and civic efforts. Those familiar with Bristol races know Food City Family Race Nights very well.This August (Thursday, August 23), Race Night returns to State Street in downtown Bristol.   

The always-grand event is a NASCAR fan’s dream.  From NEXTEL Cup and Busch Series driver appearances to live entertainment, interactive displays, and even free food, this is one event that a Bristol race fan must add to their race weekend to-do list.   

Kudos to all the folks at Food City for their 20^th year in bringing racing a little bit closer to the fans and bettering its communities through Race Night proceeds.

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Informative Bristol read in August Speedway Illustrated

If you get a chance, pick up the August ‘07 issue of Dick Berggren’s Speedway Illustrated at your local newsstand.  The eight-page feature story focuses on Bristol Motor Speedway and its new concrete racing surface. 

The Bob Zeller-written piece includes an in-depth interview with BMS President Jeff Byrd regarding the new concrete, as well as some history on the venue accompanied by a variety of interesting photos and driver quotes.

Zeller, an accomplished sportswriter, columnist and author, writes, “Bristol’s current lofty reputation was built not just on the lights, the banking or television.  One groove or not, the core of Bristol’s reputation is exciting racing.”

Bristol Motor Colosseum?

Countless drivers, racing personalities and even fans have often referred to Bristol Motor Speedway as a giant colosseum.  So our advertising agency, The Tombras Group, decided to join the crowd when developing the ad creative for the August 2007 Race Week campaign.

The TV spot is a bit from the norm, as those of you who are familiar with our commercials will readily recognize.  By the way, if the spelling col·os·se·um looks a little odd, no worries.  This spelling variant of coliseum comes from the word colossus or gigantic — an apt fit for a 160,000-seat venue.

Bloggin’ the way it ought’a be?

Okay… so here at Bristol Motor Speedway we’ve gotta admit that we’re a lap down when it comes to the social web, rss, blogging, podcasting and the such. However, you can call us the ”Lucky Dog” because we just got our lap back, and “That’s Just Bristol” is takin’ the green flag. 

Yeah, you’ll find all you want to know and more on our official web site.  But here, we’re gonna have some fun, and at the same time we’ll provide plenty of useful and entertaining information. And we’re really lookin’ forward to getting you involved. 

The pace car is pulling down onto the apron and we’re bringin’ it up to speed… Enjoy the ride!