Since the announcement yesterday of a homecoming rally for Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne, response, questions, phone calls and emails have prompted officials to move the event to the Mary Costa Plaza outside the Knoxville Civic Coliseum.
Originally planned for Market Square in Downtown Knoxville, rally organizers with Bristol Motor Speedway, Food City and the City of Knoxville decided Friday afternoon to shift sites to the Mary Costa Plaza location.
"People obviously have latched on to what a great story Trevor is and how well he has handled all of this immediate attention," said Jerry Caldwell, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Bristol Motor Speedway. "Citizens not only of Knoxville, but all over the state of Tennessee are proud of this young man and so many have expressed an interest in coming, everyone involved believed this was a logical step."
On a whirlwind media tour since his Feb. 20 win in the Daytona 500, including stops in New York, California and Chicago, Bayne's stop in his hometown allows his "home" track of Bristol Motor Speedway, its sponsor Food City, and the City of Knoxville to say congratulations to the driver who just turned 20 the day before his big win.
Other than the location change, event times remain the same with the rally scheduled from 3:15 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
Bayne will be honored on stage by Knoxville Mayor Daniel T. Brown, Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett, Food City President and CEO Steven C. Smith, and Caldwell.
At the rally, fans will be able to purchase the Bristol Bayne Backer ticket package for a special price of $100. Included in the package is a ticket to the Jeff Byrd 500 Presented by Food City (March 20), the Scotts EZ Seed 300 (March 19), a special Bristol Bayne Backer t-shirt and be part of a question and answer session with Bayne in the BMS hospitality area. All Bristol Bayne Backer ticket holders also will be seated in proximity to each other so that Bayne's cheering section will be obvious in the BMS grandstands.
The Bristol Bayne Backer special offer of $100 will only be available at the rally from 3 p.m.-5 p.m. Fans not able to attend the rally can call the BMS ticket office at 423-BRISTOL or toll free at 1-866-415-4158 to order tickets. After 5 p.m. the ticket package will be sold for $121.
ESPN's Jerry Punch will be the emcee of the event, while a number of other city and state officials, as well as actor David Keith, a Knoxville native and legendary NASCAR car owners Eddie and Len Wood will participate in the event.
Parking for the event is available in all City parking garages as well as the Jackson Avenue surface lot.
The Jeff Byrd 500 Presented by Food City race weekend gets under way March 18 with Ford Fan Friday qualifying, followed by the Scotts EZ Seed Showdown Friday, March 19 at 2 p.m. and the Jeff Byrd 500 Presented by Food City, which takes the green flag at 1 p.m. Sunday, March 20.
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.