Food City officials recently announced that Fred Hayter, life-long Bristol fan has been named Grand Marshal of the August 21, 2009 Food City 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
"The fans are the driving force that has catapulted NASCAR Racing to its current level of success. A great number of our loyal Food City shoppers are huge NASCAR fans and we wanted to honor the tremendous passion that the fans bring to this sport. Who better to do that than a gentleman who has attended every single Cup race at the speedway," said Steven C. Smith, Food City President and Chief Executive Officer.
Each year, Food City selects an individual to serve as the event grand marshal. A number of public officials and well-known figures have been privileged to announce the four most popular words in motorsports - gentlemen start your engines.
"It was a surprise and great honor to be selected by such a great local business as Food City to be Grand Marshal for the Food City 250 Nationwide Race. After doing a commercial for the cup race and a newspaper interview about having attended all NASCAR cup races at Bristol, this honor caps off a very exciting past couple months for being an avid NASCAR fan," says Hayter.
In 1961, Hayter attended the very first race at Bristol Motor Speedway and has been present to cheer on his favorite drivers at every cup race since that time. A native of Abingdon, VA, he moved to Bristol in 1958 and watched as the structure was erected from its humble beginnings to its current grandeur. The Food City 250 will mark the 97th race he has attended at the track.
Bristol Motor Speedway first learned of Hayter's incredible journey when he applied for a fan advisory board in 2007. He appeared in televised speedway specials in 2007 and 2008. When track officials began planning for their August 2009 events, they were looking for a campaign to communicate new ticket availability to long-awaiting fans. Hayter's story seemed to be the perfect solution. The nationally televised commercial shows a humble Hayter sharing his most memorable experiences from various locations throughout the sporting arena, connecting with fans throughout the country.
"Mr. Hayter represents the spirit that has made this sport great and we're honored to have him serve as our Grand Marshal," adds Steve Smith.
Food City is Bristol Motor Speedway's longest running sponsor and the second longest in NASCAR motor sports. For more than 20 years, Food City has also hosted Family Race Night, one of the premier pre-race events on the circuit. Since its inception, Food City Family Race Night has contributed over $500,000 to numerous non-profit organizations.
The Food City 250 gets under way at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, August 21, 2009, followed by the Sharpie 500 at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, August 22, 2009. Qualifying for both events begins at 4:10 p.m. on Friday.
Tickets are still available for the Food City 250 (starting at $45) and may be purchased at www.bristoltix.com or by calling the BMS ticket office at (423) 989-6900.
Headquartered in Abingdon, Virginia, K-VA-T Food Stores, Inc. (Food City's parent company) operates 105 retail food outlets throughout the tri-state regions of Southeast Kentucky, Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee. For more information, visit their website at www.foodcity.com.
