[media-credit name=”Ron McQueeney/Indianapolis Motor Speedway” align=”alignright” width=”300″]
[/media-credit]For the third consecutive year, Tony Kanaan is going to run the Prelude to the Dream at Eldora’s half-mile clay oval on June 6th. Kanaan is fitting the race amongst his busy schedule that includes back-to-back IndyCar race weekends, testing, sponsor appearances and meetings.
“It’s always a pleasure to come back, and unfortunately we don’t have a lot of time to test,” Kanaan says. “I can’t thank (track owner and event organizer) Tony (Stewart) enough for inviting me. I always enjoy it and look forward to it again.”
The 2004 IZOD IndyCar Series Champion ran road and street courses and a variety of ovals, though his first dirt race was three years ago in this event. He finished 24th in his first outing and finished 27th last year.
“It’s only two times that I’ve raced those cars on that type of track, but my mentality is to have fun and get INDYCAR out there in an environment that’s not ours,” he comments.
The Prelude to the Dream is an event that has stars from a different arrange of racing backgrounds drive 2,300 dirt Late Models. NASCAR, NHRA, ARCA and IndyCar drivers come together to raise money for Feed The Children, a U.S.-based charity that has helped over 365,000 families since 2009. The money is raised by selling tickets to the even, fans paying to watch the race through HBO pay-per-view and donations on top of that. This will mark the eighth year that Tony Stewart has hosted this event.
This year’s event will include hot laps, qualifying, heat races and a 40-lap feature with double-file restarts.
“We have the most diverse group of drivers we’ve ever had for the Prelude, and for the first time, the Prelude will be broadcast in high-definition,” Stewart says. “This year’s event is going to be a can’t-miss show. We’ve added 10 laps to the feature and partnered with a great charity in Feed The Children.”
Most drivers are returning from previous years of running, while others are trying it for the first time, including Danica Patrick.
The commercial-free broadcast begins at 8 p.m. (ET) with an immediate replay. Order at eitherwww.PreludeToTheDream.org or www.HBO.com. Ticketsare available online at www.EldoraSpeedway.com or by calling (937) 338-3815.
