NASCAR Hall of Famer and former driver/sports analyst, Rusty Wallace has been named Grand Marshal for the April 17 Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.   Wallace will give the command to start the 25th running of the Food City 500.
“Over the years, Rusty has always been one of the greatest supporters of Food City and our racing program.  As the driver who boasts the most Food City 500 wins (6), we thought it appropriate to recognize his tremendous contributions to our company and the sport by naming him Grand Marshal for the 25th running of the Food City 500,” says Steven C. Smith, Food City president and chief executive officer.

‘For over 30 years, racing legend Rusty Wallace has delighted racing fans with his hard-nosed and aggressive approach to racing and a personality and charisma that are unmatched.  Wallace, a former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and 55-time race winner, will go into history as one of America’s greatest racing drivers.  At the time of his retirement, his career victories marked the eight-best all-time career total and his nearly 20,000 laps led rank him seventh all-time.  For sixteen straight seasons, Wallace won at least one race in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series, marking the third longest such streak in history.  He is a member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, International Motorsports Hall of Fame and the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame.  He is the recipient of numerous awards and accolades.  As a former ABC/ESPN Racing Analyst, he has headlined a number of popular pre-race shows and is widely acknowledged as one of the world’s foremost authorities on NASCAR racing.’   

Food City is Bristol Motor Speedway’s longest running sponsor and the second longest in NASCAR motorsports.  The Food City 500 gets under way at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 17, 2016.  Bush’s Beans Pole Day Qualifying takes place on Friday, April 15 at 4:15 p.m.  The Fitzgerald Gilder Kits 300 is scheduled to begin at 1:45 p.m. on Saturday, April 16, followed by the PittLite 125 at 4:30 p.m. 

Tickets are still available and may be purchased at www.bristoltix.com or by calling the BMS ticket office at 423-BRISTOL (274-7865).

Headquartered in Abingdon, Virginia, K-VA-T Food Stores (Food City’s parent company) operates 135 retail outlets, including 101 pharmacies and 87 fuel/convenience stores throughout southeast Kentucky, southwest Virginia, east Tennessee, Chattanooga and north Georgia.  For more information, visit their website at www.foodcity.com. 

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.