From True Speed Media
ROSSBURG, Ohio (June 1, 2010) – His resume is legendary in the world of action sports. He’s the most successful competitor in the history of X Games freestyle motocross, a five-time United States amateur motocross champion, and winner of four consecutive championships in the Rally America Series.
He is Travis Pastrana, and never afraid to try something new and different, the Red Bull athlete will take on yet another challenge when he competes in the Gillette Fusion ProGlide Prelude to the Dream June 9 at the legendary Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.
“I’ve raced a lot of different types of cars in my career, and like every racer, I want to do well,” said Pastrana, who has become renown for seemingly doing the impossible, such as intentionally flipping his motorcycle over an airborne helicopter to jumping his Subaru WRX a world-record 269 feet last New Year’s Eve. “Compared to the Cup drivers, I am the low man on the totem pole and have very little experience, but I know it will be a good time and I’m honored to be a part of this event.”
The Gillette Fusion ProGlide Prelude to the Dream will be presented live to the entire nation on HBO Pay-Per-View® with net proceeds from the telecast supporting four of the nation’s top children’s hospitals:
· Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis: www.RileyChildrensHospital.com
· Cincinnati Children’s: www.CincinnatiChildrens.org
· Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte, N.C.: www.LevineChildrensHospital.org
· St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.: www.StJude.org
“Travis is an incredible talent on two wheels and on four,” said Tony Stewart, owner of Eldora Speedway. “We’re really happy to have him participate in the Gillette Fusion ProGlide Prelude to the Dream. I know myself and the other drivers with dirt Late Model experience will be more than happy to give him all the help he needs to be successful. I think he’ll surprise a lot of people and show why he’s one of the most talented guys in the world.”
The Gillette Fusion ProGlide Prelude to the Dream is headlined by the Gillette Young Guns: Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards and Joey Logano. All will join two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Stewart and many others, including fellow Sprint Cup champions Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, Bobby Labonte and Bill Elliott. All will pilot 2,300-pound dirt Late Model stock cars capable of putting out more than 800 horsepower.
“To have Travis Pastrana and Ricky Carmichael competing in the Prelude is a huge boost for the event,” Stewart added. “They are two of all-time greats in extreme sports and motocross and they both have very large and very loyal fan bases. We’d love to have their fans tune into HBO Pay-Per-View to see how Ricky and Travis handle the high-banks at Eldora, and also help us raise money for four great children’s hospitals.”
And beyond the new charity element, this year’s Gillette Fusion ProGlide Prelude to the Dream will be a team event. There will still be an individual race winner, but there will now be a race within the race, with the field broken up into four teams, each representing a children’s hospital:
· Team Riley: Bowyer (captain), Ryan Newman, J. Gordon, A.J. Allmendinger, Kenny Wallace and Ron Capps.
· Team Cincinnati: Kahne (captain), Logano, Stewart, Bobby Labonte, Bill Elliott and Cruz Pedregon.
· Team Levine: Busch (captain), Johnson, Kenseth, David Reutimann, Dave Blaney, Marcos Ambrose and Pastrana.
· Team St. Jude: Hamlin (captain), Edwards, Ken Schrader, Aric Almirola, Carmichael and Ray Evernham.
Each hospital will receive a donation, with the payout breakdown as follows:
· Winning team receives 45 percent of net money raised.
· Second-place team receives 25 percent of net money raised.
· Third- and fourth-place teams each receive 15 percent of net money raised.
The lowest team score wins, and only the top-five drivers from each team will be scored. For example, if Team Riley has finishes of first, fourth, seventh, 11th and 18th, respectively, from its top-five drivers, its score will be 41. In the event of a tie, the sixth driver will be scored.
Drivers from all types of disciplines, some with lots of dirt track experience and others with hardly any, will participate in hot laps, qualifying, heat races and a 30-lap feature, all of which will be televised live on HBO Pay-Per-View.
With no points and no pressure, the Gillette Fusion ProGlide Prelude to the Dream is a throwback race, allowing drivers to step back in time and compete for the reasons they all went racing in the first place – pride and a trophy. And they’ll do it on the same surface that racing legends like A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti competed on throughout the last 56 years.
The live, commercial-free broadcast will begin at 7 p.m. EDT (4 p.m. PDT) with an immediate replay. HBO Pay-Per-View’s racing telecast has a suggested retail price of $24.95 and is available to more than 71 million pay-per-view homes. HBO Pay-Per-View is the leading supplier of event programming in the pay-per-view industry. Ordering information and up-to-the minute racing information is available at either www.PreludeToTheDream.org or www.HBO.com.
For those who want to see the Gillette Fusion ProGlide Prelude to the Dream in person, tickets are available online at www.EldoraSpeedway.com or by calling the track office (937) 338-3815. Act fast – the race has sold out in each of its five previous years.
Complete event information can be found in the Gillette Fusion ProGlide Prelude to the Dream online media kit at www.TrueSpeedMedia.com.