For the third consecutive year, Bristol Motor Speedway and the NASCAR Foundation will once again team up in an effort to replenish area blood supplies.

On Thursday, Sept. 11, 2008, the NASCAR Foundation Blood and Marrow Drive, in partnership with the Hendrick Marrow Program, and the Jimmie Johnson Foundation, will take place at select NASCAR facilities around the country. The World's Fastest Half-Mile is one of more than 20 NASCAR tracks participating in the program.

Bristol Motor Speedway's drive last year resulted in a total of 130 donors donating blood while a number of people also 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.

Signing up is simple as potential donors can go to www.nascarfoundation.com to select the track they would like to visit in order to take part in the program.

Anyone donating blood at Bristol Motor Speedway Sept. 11 will be given the opportunity to drive their own car around NASCAR's most popular track, free of charge. They will also receive a BMS goody bag, which will include a t-shirt from Marsh Regional Blood Center, whose bloodmobiles will be on site. 

Donor hours will be from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The mobile units will be set up in the parking lot at the main entrance of BMS.

One blood donation can help save the lives of three people. And each year, over 35,000 people with life-threatening illnesses could benefit from a marrow or blood cell transplant.