Homestead-Miami Speedway to offer exclusive meet-and-greet opportunity with Montoya prior to Ford EcoBoost 400 to benefit Formula Smiles Foundation
Miami – South Florida resident and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates driver, Juan Pablo Montoya, along with his wife Connie, are again giving South Florida race fans reason to smile.
Homestead-Miami Speedway, for a fourth consecutive year, is partnering with the Montoyas to create “Race Day with Juan”—an exclusive meet-and-greet opportunity prior to the Nov. 18 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The “Race Day with Juan” package for $142 – and valued at more than $200 if priced individually – will benefit the Formula Smiles Foundation. It includes:
► Ticket to Sprint Cup Series Championship-finale Ford EcoBoost 400 (Frontstretch West, rows 33-48)
► Private pre-race Q&A session with Montoya in the infield Driver’s Meeting Room
► Pre-Race Pit Pass access to front-stretch for photos, autographs and access to driver introductions
► No. 42 Target Chevrolet commemorative hat
► $42 donation to the Formula Smiles Foundation headed by the Montoyas
“We are thrilled to partner with Juan Pablo for the fourth consecutive year. This is a heck of an opportunity to meet one of the greatest drivers in our business just minutes before he goes to work,” said track president Matthew Becherer. “It’s great to see what Juan Pablo and Connie are doing away from the track with Formula Smiles to help at-risk youth in Colombia. NASCAR has an abundance of talent, there’s no doubt about that, but Juan Pablo truly is one of a kind made all the more special by what he and Connie do off the track with Formula Smiles.”
The Montoyas are committed to fighting Colombia’s indigence through sports and education. Their main weapon is the Formula Smiles Foundation which aims to improve, through sports, the quality of life of Colombian children in vulnerable situations.
“I think it’s great that we’ve partnered up with my home town track, Homestead-Miami Speedway, for a fourth year,” said Juan Pablo Montoya. “We’ve raised a lot of money for Formula Smiles through this ticket package and to see it grow every year is something Connie and I are very proud of.”
“Colombia has suffered a great deal of conflict in the last 50 years so we continue to try and get the community together,” said Connie Montoya. “Formula Smiles provides children with a place to participate in multiple sports, enjoy after-school activities and learn core values. Simply put, Formula Smiles creates smiles and our relationship with Homestead-Miami Speedway allows us to do just that. We’re very happy to be announcing this ticket package for a fourth straight year.”
As the sporting world turns its eyes on Homestead-Miami Speedway for the Nov. 16-18 Ford Championship Weekend—NASCAR’s series-crowning races in the Chase For The Sprint Cup, the Nationwide, and Camping World Truck Series—some of NASCAR’s most prominent figures will focus on Colombia.
Among Formula Smiles’ fundraising efforts is the Nov. 16 “BeLive” benefit at the Miami Beach Convention Center on the eve of NASCAR’s Ford Championship Weekend at Montoya’s “home track” of Homestead-Miami Speedway. “BeLive” is attended each year by more than 500 international guests; including NASCAR celebrities, and luminaries in the world of music and fashion. Activities for the gala include dinner, a silent auction, and a fashion show.
To purchase “Race Day with Juan” ($142) — or to upgrade to this package if tickets already have been purchased—please call the Homestead-Miami Speedway Ticket Sales Department at 305.230.5255. For more information please visit www.HomesteadMiamiSpeedway.com/Montoya.
About The Formula Smiles Foundation
Formula Smiles Foundation is a nonprofit organization incorporated in the United States, under status 501(c)(3), by Colombian racecar driver Juan Pablo Montoya and his wife Connie Freydell, which aims to improve, through sports, the quality of life of Colombian children in vulnerable situations.
About Homestead-Miami Speedway
The Speedway has been open since 1995 following an initiative to spur economic recovery in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew. The 640-acre facility is active more than 280 days per year and hosts NASCAR’s Championship Races during Ford Championship Weekend (November 16-18, 2012). The Sprint Cup Championship Ford 400 is broadcast live on TV and radio to 175 countries and into 24 languages. The 2011 championship attracted ESPN Television’s largest NASCAR Sprint Cup viewership ever with a peak audience of 10.5 million when the checkered flag fell. Homestead-Miami Speedway, featuring a 1.5-mile oval and 2.21-mile road course, generates more than $250 million annually for the region. For more information, visit www.homesteadmiamispeedway.com.
