Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your Engines
NASCAR Returns to Gateway Motorsports Park Saturday, June 13, 2015
Fans, Food, Music, Racing, and Fun for the Entire Family with
Children 15 and Under Free
June 8, 2015, St. Louis Region – Less than a week until NASCAR’s most competitive series returns to Gateway Motorsports Park (MSP) on Saturday, June 13 with the 2nd annual American Ethanol Presents Drivin’ for Linemen 200 brought to you by Ameren. The race is dedicated to bringing awareness to the hard work and sacrifices electrical linemen make every day as first responders, especially during major storms and disasters.
Fans can expect side-by-side racing from start to finish. The June 13th race at Gateway Motorsports Park will be the 7th of 22 national truck series races on the calendar for 2015. Thirty-two drivers will run 200 miles or 160 laps on Gateway Motorsports Park’s NASCAR Speedway. All of the trucks in the big race are powered by American Ethanol. The 1.25 mile oval at Gateway Motorsports Park produces a tremendous challenge for drivers with its long straightaways, tight configuration through turns 1 and 2 and sweeping high banks through turns 3 and 4. The track is well known for high speeds and frequent passing.
Motorsports fans from across the country are flocking to St. Louis because they know NASCAR drivers are some of the most competitive athletes of any sport, and the truck series is largely popular due to the driver and team personalities that fuel much of the excitement of NASCAR.
This nationally-televised, celebrity-filled event will give the people of the St. Louis region the opportunity to show the world how much we love our community and how much we love NASCAR. The race will be broadcast on FoxSports 1 beginning with the pre-race show 7:00pm Central time. The live race broadcast begins at 7:30pm and the green flag drops at 7:48pm.
The 2014 truck race at Gateway Motorsports Park offered NASCAR fans exactly what they wanted – plenty of drama. Darrell “Bubba” Wallace, who now drives in the Xfinity series, overcame early-race setbacks and avoided the trouble that plagued many contenders to capture his second career win in his first race in St. Louis. The truck race is filled with young, dynamic drivers working to prove they have what it takes to compete in the major NASCAR leagues. (And, they do!)
Motorsports fans are in for a fun-fill day for the entire family. While you’re at the track, don’t miss the Fun Zone and the Gateway Kartplex, located inside of turns 1 and 2 of the NASCAR oval. Kids 15 years and younger are free, with an adult ticket. General admission tickets are only $36.00.
9:00am Doors open for spectators
9:30am Practice begins
Noon Practice concludes
12:30pm Off-track fan activities
4:45pm Pole qualifying begins
5:45pm Pole qualifying concludes
6:30pm Pre-race ceremonies
7:00pm Driver intros
7:30pm Drivin’ for Linemen 200 begins
Special Race-Day Activities
Live Music on the Great Clips Stage
Mad Hoss Jackson – Country
Carissa Biele – Country and Classic Rock
Ryan Daniel – Country Music Act
Autograph Session
Racing fans get the opportunity to get up-close and person with NASCAR drivers at the dynamic autograph session.
Scott Air Force Day at the Races and Swearing in Ceremony
Gateway Motorsports Park and NASCAR are honoring America’s Military with Scott Air Force Day at the Races on Saturday, June 13. As part of the NASCAR salutes campaign, all active duty military receive free admission with their military I.D. and we’re offering discount tickets for military spouses.
United State Air Force Rapid Strike:
A unique simulator ride experience that immerses visitors in the high-tech world of the United States Air Force; and demonstrates the Air Force’s vision to provide Global Vigilance, Reach and Power for the nation. Visitors board a ride that lets them experience a real Air Force mission including an F-22 flight, C-17 cargo drop, Special Operations ground surveillance, satellite communications, and a Reaper missile strike – all from a first person point-of-view. Visitors will see the fast-pace, high-energy nature of a complex Air Force mission conducted in a deployed environment. Along the way they will discover the many roles the Air Force plays in today’s military, as well as several of the career opportunities they can pursue.
Pre-race ceremonies will include the swearing in of 40 newly trained United States Air Force recruits.
NASCAR Drive for Diversity Pit Crew Challenge
NASCAR is bringing more than just action-packed truck racing on Saturday, it’s also offering an opportunity to promising, multicultural athletes to test their skills at becoming a pit crew member for a professional race team. The 2015 NASCAR Drive for Diversity Pit Crew Challenge Tour will be at Gateway Motorsports Park on Saturday, June 13 and is seeking talented minority and female competitors, ages 18-26, to try out for the industry’s premier pit crew development program.
While the success of NASCAR Drive for Diversity (D4D) has focused on its drivers – Kyle Larson (Japanese-American) is the reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie of the year – it is the pit crew members who are also demonstrating the program’s growth since inception. Columbia’s own Carl Edwards celebrated a win in Sonoma last year in part due to pit crew member and Drive for Diversity graduate Raphael Diaz’s work as a rear tire changer.
Special Guests
Jackie Joyner Kersee will be a celebrity judge for the NASCAR Diversity Pit Crew Challenge. Joyner-Kersee is a 53-year-old retired Olympic Gold Medal athlete, ranked among the all-time greatest athletes in the world. Sports Illustrated for Women magazine voted Joyner-Kersee the Greatest Female Athlete of the 20th century, just ahead of Babe Didrikson Zaharias. Joyner-Kersee is from East St. Louis, Illinois.
St. Louis area professional fighter, Michael Chandler Jr. will be on site to meet St. Louis fans and sign autographs. Chandler, 29-years old, is an American mixed martial artist fighting in the Lightweight division. He is currently under contract with Bellator Fighting Championships where he is the former Bellator Lightweight Champion. Chandler is a former NCAA Division 1 All-American wrestling phenom out of the University of Missouri who has been one half of some of the most exciting fights in Bellator history. He was also the winner of the Bellator Season Four: Lightweight Tournament. He was the 2011 Breakthrough Fighter of the Year. With dominating takedowns and rag-dolling suplex throws, he went on to quickly earn a fierce reputation in MMA.
Ceremonial Salute to Past, Present, and Future Electrical Linemen and Fallen Linemen, as First Responders
Pre-race ceremonies will include a salute to linemen as first responders with a pole climb and flag placement by select electrical linemen from across the country.
Tickets
General Admission tickets start at $36.00 for adults. Children 15 and younger are free with a ticket-holding adult. To purchase event tickets, please visit www.gatewaymsp.com or call 1-855-racetik.
For additional information on the Fallen Linemen Organization, please visit www.fallenlinemen.org.
For additional information on the International Linemen Museum, please visit www.linemanmuseum.com.
For additional information on Ameren, please visit Ameren.com.
For additional information on American Ethanol, visit www.americanethanolracing.com.
The vision for the new Gateway Motorsports Park is to create a racing lifestyle that attracts enthusiasts, professionals, amateurs and car lovers by harnessing the energy and passion of the thousands of racing fans in the heart of the Midwest.
Located just five minutes from downtown St. Louis and covering nearly 200 acres, Gateway is the largest outdoor entertainment facility in the region, encompassing a ¼ mile NHRA-sectioned drag strip, 1.25 mile NASCAR Speedway, 1.6 mile road course, a state-of-the-art Karting facility and a new 14-acre, multi-purpose dirt off-road venue.
Susan C. Ryan
SC Ryan Consulting, LLC