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.
Riki Rachtman has been showing up on television quite a bit lately but Saturday night Rachtman will live out a lifelong dream by strapping in to a race car and taking on the high banks of Bristol Motor Speedway. Living in Hollywood one would not think Rachtman as a NASCAR fan but thats not the case.”I have always had a passion for stock car racing. If you looked back on past episodes of my show Headbangers Ball you would see me wearing a Richard Petty shirt or Dale Earnhardt hat. 6 years ago Rachtman started a radio show Racing Rocks. Every week he would give his own twist on NASCAR news and include exclusive driver interviews. Racing Rocks is beginning its 6th year and is now heard on over 120 stations across America. This past winter Rachtman was a dean on VH1s highly rated series”Charm School”. Rachtman also served as host for the reunion of both seasons of”Rock of Love”, a role he will return to mid April. April 26th on VH1. This weekend however Rachtman will attempt to sift through the field of drivers as he competes in Scotts Saturday Night Special, March 21 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Rachtmans charity will be the ASPCA. (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals).
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 www.bristoltix.com or by calling the BMS ticket office at (423) 989-6900. The Scotts Saturday Night Special will be televised on ESPN 2 at 6:00pm/et.(BMS PR)(3-19-2009)