The Second Annual NASCAR Foundation Blood and Marrow Drive, held at Bristol Motor Speedway on Tuesday, proved to be a big success despite a very rainy day.

A total of 145 donors were on hand while more than 30 signed up for the bone marrow registry. The blood donations will help to replenish area blood banks while those registering for the bone marrow drive will be entered into the national registry.

Lisa Presley, Donor Recruiter for Mobile Units with the Marsh Regional Blood Center, was again very pleased with the turnout.

"We started out really well but when the rain came things slowed down a little," she said. "Still, we did awfully well, especially for the kind of weather we had. You never know how many people will come out but we consider this a very successful drive. It says a lot about this area and the desire to help our community."

Linda Hilton, Cooperative Appalachian Marrow Program Donor Center Co-Coordinator, also was pleased with the number of people who registered.

"Every person you can sign up for the registry makes a difference," she said. "We had a great day and we signed up a lot of people and hopefully they'll be able to help someone in need. That's what it's all about."

While most of the donors were from Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia, some came from as far away as Iowa, Pennsylvania and Florida.