Celebrity/Pro Driver Teams Announced For Special Race

The field of professional drivers has been set and so has the lineup of celebrities. Today, Bristol Motor Speedway officials announced the pairings for the Scotts Saturday Night Special, March 21 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Nine-time Bristol winner Rusty Wallace and ESPN analyst Ray Evernham announced nearly two weeks ago their intentions of an alliance. Now the other 11 teams have come together as well; some with history and a relationship, some meeting for the first time.

Junior Johnson, a 21-time winner at Bristol Motor Speedway as a car owner, is paired with ESPN analyst and former NBA No.-1 pick Brad Daugherty while Jimmy Spencer and TV/Radio personality Riki Rachtman will join forces.

“This has been a very interesting process,” said Jeff Byrd, president and general manager of Bristol Motor Speedway. “All of these guys have had a lot of fun with this and that is what we wanted. But we wanted the fans to have fun with it even more.”

Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer and Cale Yarborough, both multi-time champions in their respective fields, will partner as will ESPN analyst and former title-winning crew chief Andy Petree and Sterling Marlin.

Hunting buddies Terry Labonte and Bill Jordan of Realtree Outdoors are teamed as are long-time friends David Green and three-time NHRA Pro Stock champ Greg Anderson.

Philadelphia Eagles place-kicker David Akers and Harry Gant will partner as will Jack Ingram and NHRA Funny Car driver Ron Capps and L.D. Ottinger and Terry Bowden, head coach at the University of North Alabama.

Larry Pearson, a two-time Nationwide champ and two-time Bristol winner, who this week took the place of his injured dad, David, teams with NHRA Top-Fuel dragster driver Doug Herbert. And Phil Parsons, winner of the first Nationwide Series race at BMS in 1982, and former NFL star Mike Compton round out the teams.

Akers, Beamer, Bowden, Compton, Jordan and Rachtman will run the first 15-lap heat to determine the order of the inside starting row of the 35-lap pro event. Anderson, Capps, Daugherty, Evernham, Herbert and Petree will run the second 15-lap heat to set the outside starting row of the main event.

The winning “team” is guaranteed $25,000 for their charities and a total of $10,000 will go to the charity or charities of the second-place duo. Every other team will get $5,000, $2,500 per driver, for their charities.

The Scotts Saturday Night Special is part of a three-race ticket March 21. Tickets, which start at $45 and include the Scotts Turf Builder 300 and the 100-lap UARA event, may be purchased at http://www.bristoltix.com or by calling the BMS ticket office at (423) 989-6900.

Saturday Night Special Pairings:

David Akers – Harry Gant

Greg Anderson – David Green

Frank Beamer – Cale Yarborough

Terry Bowden – L.D. Ottinger

Ron Capps – Jack Ingram

Mike Compton – Phil Parsons

Brad Daugherty – Junior Johnson

Ray Evernham – Rusty Wallace

Doug Herbert – Larry Pearson

Bill Jordan – Terry Labonte

Andy Petree – Sterling Marlin

Riki Rachtman – Jimmy Spencer