Prelude to the Dream - Supports "Feed The Children"

One of the biggest NASCAR-oriented charity events of the season will take place Wednesday night as 12 Sprint Cup drivers participate in the 26-driver field for Prelude To The Dream invitational at Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway.

 

Competing in Dirt Late Model cars on the half-mile track, the race will raise funds for the charity Feed The Children. The funds are raised through sales of the telecast on HBO Pay-Per-View. 

The three-time Cup champion Stewart has held the event for charity since 2005. He owns Eldora Speedway. 

“It’s great for us as competitors because we get a chance to go out and do something that we don’t get the chance to do all season long with each other,” Stewart said. 

“There are a lot of us drivers who get a chance to race at dirt tracks or run at Late Model pavement tracks across the country, but we never get to do it together as a group.” 

The Cup drivers participating are Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Clint Bowyer, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, Bobby Labonte, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Aric Almirola, David Gilliland, Dave Blaney and J.J. Yeley. 

Other drivers scheduled to participate are part-time Cup drivers Kenny Schrader and Bill Elliott; former team owner and crew chief Ray Evernham; Nationwide Series drivers Danica Patrick, Austin Dillon, Justin Allgaier and Kenny Wallace; Camping World Truck Series drivers Jason Leffler and Ty Dillon; IndyCar Series driver Tony Kannan; NHRA drivers Ron Capps and Cruz Pedregon; and World of Outlaws drivers Steve Kinser and Donny Schatz. 

Patrick, who is in the midst of her transition from IndyCar to NASCAR, has never raced a car on dirt. “When I heard that you get sideways when you get out of the throttle, I thought, ‘Well, that just sounds like fun,’” she said. “So I think it’s just going to come from running it. “And, at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how I do. It just matters that we’re all there, and that we’re putting on a good show.”

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