News And Notes From Charlotte
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| Kyle Busch's car is one of many with pink-themed paint schemes |
| Pete McCole/AR1 |
Pretty In Pink
With the month of October being Breast Cancer Awareness month, more than 30 NASCAR Sprint Cup and Xfinity Series teams are running special pink-themed paint schemes on their cars this weekend. Many teams also have breast cancer survivors as special guests in their pit boxes.
Several drivers have also participating in Breast Cancer Awareness events during the week here in Charlotte, including Kyle Busch and his wife Samantha, who hosted a dinner and a silent auction for the Pretty in Pink Foundation through their Kyle Busch Foundation. Kyle Busch Motorsports also held an open house at their race shop featuring free mobile mammogram screening.
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| The "Restart Zone" |
| Pete McCole/AR1 |
In The Zone
After NASCAR lowered the boom on Brad Keselowski for jumping a restart last weekend at Dover, officials at Charlotte Motor Speedway have taken steps to make sure drivers are fully aware of where the restart zone is – repainting a section of the frontstretch wall clearly marking the area where drivers are expected to hit the gas.
Workers with the speedway completed the work earlier this week on the outside frontstretch wall, which will replace the plain red lines that previously marked the restart zone.
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| Erendira Wallenda high above the frontstretch |
| Pete McCole/AR1 |
Flying Wallendas
Sunday’s pre-race show featured aerialist Erendira Wallenda performing aerobatics while hanging from a ring suspended under a helicopter hovering 150 feet above the Charlotte Motor Speedway infield.
Wallenda is the wife of Nik Wallenda, a seventh-generation member of the famous “Flying Wallendas" family of acrobats, who famously wirewalked from the grandstand to the Winner’s Circle at the speedway on October of 2013.
Austin and Weezie
Austin Dillon had a special guest joining him for this weekends event, as he and his team welcomed pediatric trauma survivor 12-year-old trauma survivor Louisa "Weezie" Broughton to help promote his upcoming 3-on-3 charity basketball tournament benefiting the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma.
Broughton was treated at CIPT after suffering serious injuries after being hit by a car in November of 2014. She was among several former CIPT patients who accompanied Dillon and his young brother Ty to meet Taylor Swift at a Charlotte concert back in June.
Diamonds Are Forever
Carl Edwards was presented with a new ECJ Luxe watch from Diamonds Direct in honor of his victory in the Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway back in May. The speedway also announced they have extended their partnership with Diamonds Direct and will rename their Winner’s Circle Lounge the ECJ Presented by Diamonds Direct Winner’s Circle Lounge.
Pete McCole reporting from Charlotte Motor Speedway