BRISTOL, Tenn. (Sept. 14, 2026) – Bristol Motor Speedway will honor Dolly Parton throughout Bass Pro Shops Night Race week, Sept. 17-19, with a series of tributes featuring her signature pink butterfly.
With approval from the Dollywood Foundation, BMS created a special tribute mark featuring a pink butterfly with “Dolly” across its center. The design will celebrate the late country music icon and proud East Tennessean during race week at “The World’s Fastest Half-Mile.”
The Dolly Parton tributes will include:
- Prominent Dolly butterfly signage on the track walls and throughout the BMS property.
- A race-ready Dolly butterfly decal made available to teams across NASCAR’s three national series to display on their race cars.
- A Dolly Parton tribute banner that is 15 wide x 7 tall in the BMS Fan Zone where fans can write messages and add their signatures.
- Dolly Parton’s music will be incorporated into the atmosphere throughout the BMS property during race weekend as another tribute to her unmistakable voice and extraordinary legacy.
“Dolly’s impact reaches far beyond East Tennessee, but she’ll always have a special place here at home,” said Jerry Caldwell, president and general manager of Bristol Motor Speedway. “We wanted to create a meaningful way for our fans and race teams to join us in honoring her during one of Bristol’s biggest weekends. We’re grateful to the Dollywood Foundation for helping us bring this tribute to life.”
In addition to celebrating Dolly Parton’s life, the Bass Pro Shops Night Race on Sept. 19 will feature a star-studded entertainment lineup, including Academy Award-winning actor and producer Brad Pitt as a grand marshal and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner and two-time INDYCAR Series champion Josef Newgarden as the honorary pace car driver.
Saturday’s festivities also will include appearances by WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair, a pre-race concert by Brian Kelley, Bristol’s signature driver introductions featuring music personally selected by the competitors, a children’s choir performing the national anthem and Lee Greenwood singing “God Bless the USA” as a bald eagle soars above the stadium. Two U.S. Air Force C-130s will follow with a dramatic flyover. Fans also will receive yellow “Rowdy Towels” and unite for a Lap 18 tribute honoring Kyle Busch and his unmatched success at Bristol before the NASCAR Cup Series’ biggest stars battle under the lights.
The Bass Pro Shops Night Race weekend, Sept. 17-19, will transform Bristol Motor Speedway and the surrounding Northeast Tennessee region into a three-day celebration of racing, music and unforgettable entertainment. Championship competition in all three of NASCAR’s national series begins Thursday with the Bush’s Beans 200 ARCA Menards Series race and the UNOH 250 presented by Ohio Logistics, which opens the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Chase, followed by Bristol’s popular Foam Party. Friday features Nobody Trashes Tennessee Qualifying, the Food City 300 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Chase race and a post-race concert featuring Tim Dugger. The weekend culminates Saturday night with the 500-lap, postseason Bass Pro Shops Night Race for the NASCAR Cup Series.
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit BristolMotorSpeedway.com or call the BMS Ticket Sales Center at (866) 415-4158.
About Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol Motor Speedway, known as The Last Great Colosseum, sits in the mountains of Northeast Tennessee near the Virginia state line. The 0.533-mile concrete oval, with 28-degree banking, hosts two major NASCAR Cup Series weekends each year, the tradition-rich Food City 500 and the crown jewel Bass Pro Shops Night Race. The venue has staged iconic moments such as the 2016 Pilot Flying J Battle at Bristol football game between the University of Tennessee and Virginia Tech (NCAA-record 156,990 fans), the 2025 MLB Speedway Classic between the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds (MLB regular-season record crowd of 91,032), the 2020 NASCAR All-Star Race, the rebirth of NASCAR Cup Series racing on dirt from 2021–2023 and sold-out concerts for Morgan Wallen and Kenny Chesney. Fans enjoy Colossus TV, the world’s largest outdoor, center-hung, four-sided video board. The adjacent Bristol Dragway is home to the NHRA Super Grip Thunder Valley Nationals, and the dragway can transform into the Thunder Valley Amphitheatre for music concerts. Opened in 1961 and acquired by Speedway Motorsports in 1996, Bristol remains one of America’s most unique and versatile sports and entertainment destinations. For more information, please visit www.bristolmotorspeedway.com.
