George “Norm” Wendt of Cheers Fame Lending A Hand With Festivities
BRISTOL, Tenn. (Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012) – Bristol Motor Speedway is “Going Green” in a big way with Go Daddy Girl Danica Patrick during a special St. Patrick’s Day celebration for the Nationwide Series event March 17.
Breaking a long-standing tradition of eschewing green, once a much-maligned hue in the NASCAR garage, the World’s Fastest Half-Mile is embracing the color, right along with Patrick who will be driving a special St. Patrick’s Day paint scheme in the 300-lapper that day.
Patrick pilots the shamrock covered GoDaddy.com ride for JR Motorsports and makes her second start at BMS. As part of the celebration, fans can purchase a special ticket package for the race which also gives them access to a question and answer session with Patrick at Bristol on the morning of March 17. Fans will also receive a limited edition Danica / St. Patrick’s Day event t-shirt, featuring the shamrock-themed No. 7 GoDaddy.com car.  In addition, one lucky fan who purchases the package wins two hot passes and the opportunity to view the race from Patrick’s pit box.
Beginning today fans may visit a special website, www.DanicaGoesGreenAtBristol.com, which will keep them up to date with all the current news surrounding Patrick, tickets and the St. Patrick’s Day celebration at BMS.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun racing at Bristol on St. Patrick’s Day,” Patrick said. “But doing it with the Go Daddy car covered in a shamrock paint scheme makes it truly special. Obviously with my last name, I’ve always liked St. Patrick’s Day. The car design was a collaboration between myself, Go Daddy and JR Motorsports. And we had a lot of fun with it. Who knows? Maybe it will bring us little extra luck during the race.”
Go Daddy is the world’s largest provider of Web hosting*, domain name registrations and net new SSL Certificates.   “If you thought the Go Daddy No. 7 was bright green before, wait until you see our St. Patrick’s Day No. 7,” said Go Daddy Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Executive Vice President Barb Rechterman. “This is going to be a NASCAR style St. Patrick’s Day at Bristol!”
The St. Patrick’s Day celebration at BMS will be hosted by George Wendt, known for his 11-year role of the beer-drinking Norm Peterson on the television series Cheers.
A post-race pit party also is on tap in the hospitality area with live music. In addition, the creek that runs through the property at Bristol Motor Speedway will be dyed green for the race and the lights that illuminate the stadium at night all will be green.
BMS general manager Jerry Caldwell believes “Going Green with Danica” is the perfect way to celebrate not just St. Patrick’s Day, but also one of the most successful Nationwide races in the sport.
“With the holiday falling on our race weekend, it’s a no-brainer that we marry it with one of NASCAR’s most popular drivers at one of the series’ biggest races,” he said. “We have all kinds of fun things happening that day and Danica has certainly embraced it with the special paint scheme and the ticket package for fans, which is pretty cool.
“Like everyone else, we’ve been going green environmentally for a while, but now we’re taking it to another level with our St. Patrick’s Day bash. The fans will definitely see plenty of green while they’re here – and, as always, they’ll have the time of their lives while watching some spectacular racing.”
The Patrick ticket package is available for $67 and includes a limited edition t-shirt, a $10 coupon to the JR Nation retail store at JR Motorsports, admittance to the question and answer session and the opportunity to be upgraded with pit passes courtesy of Bristol Motor Speedway. Children’s ticket packages also will be available for $37.50 and will include a child’s sized t-shirt.
Included in the price of a Nationwide Series race day ticket at BMS also is the K&N Pro Series 125 which will take place after the Nationwide race.
BMS season tickets, which include the Food City 500 (March 18) and IRWIN Tools Night Race (Aug. 25) Sprint Cup races, as well as the Nationwide events and the K&N race, also are on sale. Pricing for all four races begins at just $175 in the Wallace Tower.
A March race weekend package also is available starting at $99 that includes the Food City 500 and the Nationwide/K&N Pro Series East events. A package in the Wallace Tower for both Sprint Cup races also is now available for $99, while packages for fans 15 and younger are available for the March races at half price. Lower row seating for the Food City 500 is available, with tickets starting at $65.
Tickets may be purchased by calling toll free at 1-866-415-4158, 423-BRISTOL or by visiting www.bristoltix.com.
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Speedway Motorsports is a leading marketer and promoter of motorsports entertainment in the United States. The Company, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates the following premier facilities: Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Infineon Raceway, Kentucky Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway. The Company provides souvenir merchandising services through its SMI Properties subsidiaries; manufactures and distributes smaller-scale, modified racing cars and parts through its U.S. Legend Cars International subsidiary; and produces and broadcasts syndicated motorsports programming to radio stations nationwide through its Performance Racing Network subsidiary. The Company also equally-owns Motorsports Authentics, a joint venture formed with International Speedway Corporation to produce, market and sell licensed motorsports merchandise. For more information, visit the Company’s website at www.speedwaymotorsports.com.
