Bristol Motor Speedway Honors Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Legacy

by August 17, 2017 0 comments

BRISTOL, Tenn. – As Dale Earnhardt Jr. prepares for his final weekend behind the wheel at The Last Great Colosseum, Bristol Motor Speedway unveiled its major tributes to Little E.

Earnhardt Jr.’s name will live on in Bristol lore with the announcements of the Dale Earnhardt Jr. Scholarship and the It’s Bristol, Baby! sign, located in the Fan Zone.

Drawing inspiration from his social media profile that mentions his former career as an automotive service mechanic, Bristol Motor Speedway on Thursday honored Earnhardt by announcing it was starting a scholarship in his name. The Dale Earnhardt Jr. Scholarship will be a $2,088 annual award that goes to a high school student from Sullivan County, Tennessee who wants to pursue a career in the automotive industry.

Students must be graduating seniors who live in Sullivan County and attend high school in Sullivan County Schools, Kingsport City Schools or Bristol Tennessee City Schools. Students must have completed at least two automotive technology or similar courses during high school.

Later in the day, the track also dedicated an interactive monument paying homage to the, It’s Bristol, Baby! slogan that Earnhardt first uttered after his victory on Aug. 28, 2004. The sign, which is located in the Fan Zone near the iconic Bristol Tower, allows fans an opportunity to take part in BMS’ tributes to Junior. The Speedway invites fans to share their social content featuring the sign on Bristol’s social media channels (www.Facebook.com/BristolMotorSpeedway, www.Twitter.com/BMSupdates, www.Instagram.com/BMSupdates and Snapchat: BMSupdates) and utilizing #ItsBristolBaby.

Earnhardt Jr. will compete in both the Food City 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series race tomorrow night and the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race on Saturday evening before moving to the NBC broadcast booth next year. The doubleheader is fitting end to Earnhardt Jr.’s career at The Last Great Colosseum, where he has seen his fair share of memorable moments.

“It’s been an incredible racetrack and it has done so much for NASCAR over the years to promote the sport and give folks a great place to come enjoy a race,” said Earnhardt Jr., who is best remembered in Bristol lore for his 2004 sweep. “Everything that happens around the racetrack, outside the racetrack, the atmosphere during race weekends is really great. They do an awesome job. I hope to keep coming back. It’s definitely still my favorite stop. I’ll be lucky I guess, is a way to put it, to be able to call this race next year and be a part of the broadcast team.”

About Bristol Motor Speedway

Forged amid the scenic mountains of Northeast Tennessee near the Virginia state line, Bristol Motor Speedway is The Last Great Colosseum, a versatile multi-use venue that hosts major auto races, football games, concerts and many other captivating events. The facility features a 0.533-mile concrete oval race track with 28-degree corner banking and 650-feet straightaways that offers racing in several NASCAR touring series, highlighted by two major Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series weekends. While at the track, fans are offered a unique viewing experience courtesy of Colossus, the world’s largest outdoor center-hung four-sided video screen with a 540,000-watt audio system. The adjacent quarter-mile dragstrip, Bristol Dragway, offers more than 70 events annually, including the marquee NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals. Three football games have kicked-off inside the oval, most notably the 2016 Pilot Flying J Battle at Bristol, where border rivals the University of Tennessee and Virginia Tech met before an NCAA-record crowd of 156,990. In existence since 1961, Bristol Motor Speedway was purchased in 1996 by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., a publicly traded company that is a leading marketer and promoter of motorsports entertainment in the United States. For more information, please visit www.bristolmotorspeedway.com.

Source/Photo Credit: Bristol Motor Speedway

No Comments so far

Jump into a conversation

No Comments Yet!

You can be the one to start a conversation.

<