Back in June, the Ford Motor Company announced it was partnering with NASCAR on an exhibition race for Veterans Day that aims to honor all six branches of the U.S. military.
Now, Ford is ready to unveil details about the first-of-its-kind event.
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The Proud To Honor Veterans Day Classic will be held at the iconic Daytona International Speedway on Nov. 11 featuring 12 drivers competing for six teams, each one representing branches of the military.
Drivers set to race in the event include NASCAR Cup Series champions such as Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski, as well as popular wheelmen like Austin Cindric, Noah Gragson, Frankie Muniz, Ben Hobson and Logan Sargeant. They’ll get behind the wheel of Mustang Dark Horse Rs, a car that was designed for International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) competitions.
The event will also feature a concert headlined by Grammy-winning country music artist Zac Brown. He recorded a personal video message that was sent to veteran service organizations, inviting them to attend the race as his guests and offering complimentary tickets to veterans.
Along with NASCAR, Brown is one of several working with Ford to make the race a reality. Other partners include Blue Star Families, Historic Sportscar Racing and IMSA. More artists joining Brown for the concert will be announced later, Ford says.
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The race will also be aired live on a broadcast network, though Ford isn’t quite ready to announce how and where fans can watch. Tickets for the event are on sale now, with early bird pricing starting at $105 with a 20% discount for veterans and active-duty military through GovX.
Ford is also establishing its Proud to Honor Fund, where every dollar donated goes directly to six nonprofits supporting military and veteran communities: Blue Star Families, Camp Southern Ground, Disabled American Veterans, TAPS, Team Rubicon and the Travis Manion Foundation.
“There’s a lot of companies out there that are going to talk about their American heritage, but Ford actually backs that up with action across all sorts of areas of our business,” Nick Ford, the director of corporate strategy for the Ford Motor Company, told USA TODAY Sports in June. “Ford is the most iconic American company, and what better way to embody that than honoring the military?”
With where Veterans Day falls on the calendar, this race will be held just three days after NASCAR’s Cup Series championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway. In June, Tim Clark, NASCAR’s executive vice president and chief brand officer, conceded that timing might present a little bit of a challenge, but also said it’s an opportunity for the sport to “crest that wave” amidst a “great season.”
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Ford drivers have had a bit of a resurgence in recent weeks in the NASCAR Cup Series after a bumpy start to the season. Beginning with the Atlanta race on July 12, three Ford drivers have found victory lane with Blaney, Logano and Ryan Preece all taking checkered flags.
Those three, along with Cindric and Chris Buescher, made their way into NASCAR’s postseason Chase. Josh Berry, driver of the No. 21 Ford for Wood Brothers, also recently ripped off six top-10 finishes in a row. Another Ford driver, Todd Gilliland of Front Row Motorsports, won NASCAR’s In-Season Challenge. And in the Craftsman Truck Series, Layne Riggs is atop of the leaderboard entering the Chase.
“It’s in our DNA. Ford was really born on the racetrack,” Nick Ford said. “And you know, it’s never been bigger than it is now. NASCAR has always been a huge focus for us.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Daytona to host NASCAR stars in Veterans Day exhibition race from Ford
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