The 12th annual SMOKE SHOW fundraising event with three-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Tony Stewart at Texas Motor Speedway raised nearly $138,000 for Speedway Children’s Charities – Texas Chapter.
Speedway Children’s Charities will grant all funds raised to North Texas organizations that serve children in need. Organizations receiving grants in 2018 included Breakthrough Fort Worth, Callier Center for Communication Disorders, Camp Summit, Inc., Health Services of North Texas, ManeGait Therapeutic Horsemanship, and Sci Tech Discovery Center.
This year’s event consisted of 17 participants who both experienced the thrill of riding with Stewart, who drove at near-race speeds, as well as ran hot laps of their own behind the wheel. There were also a number of participants who simply took hot laps with the winner of Texas Motor Speedway’s fall races in 2006 and 2011. Stewart, who volunteers his time and effort, agreed to additional one-on-one rides which resulted in an additional $17,500 raised.
The evening was capped off with a dinner and live auction that was attended by 120 guests, including the day’s participants. The live auction was relatively small, with six items to bid on including the racing helmet Stewart wore that day as well as race experience packages. However, careful maneuvering and cajoling by Stewart and track president Eddie Gossage to double up on a couple of the items as the bidding went back and forth, ended up bringing the live auction total to $42,000.
Team Texas High Performance Driving School, based at the speedway, provided and prepared the races cars decked out in actual NASCAR paint schemes from the recent past.
For more information at Speedway Children’s Charities – Texas Chapter or to donate, go to www.speedwaycharities.org/texasor contact Marissa Chaney, Executive Director, at 817.215.8564 or [email protected].
The AAA Texas 500 weekend kicks off with two nights of on the Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track with the Tony Stewart Presents the Vankor Texas Sprint Car Nationals, Oct. 31-Nov. 1. The Saturday, Nov. 2 NASCAR Xfinity Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 playoff race will take place under the lights on the 1.5-mile asphalt oval as will the eighth race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, the AAA Texas 500, Sunday Nov. 3.
For ticket or race information, please visit texasmotorspeedway.com or call the speedway ticket office at 817.215.8500. With an adult ticket purchase, accompanying tickets for children 12-and-under are $10 for the AAA Texas 500 and free for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 playoff race.
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