Home » Waltrip to honor UK Wildcats at Kentucky Speedway this weekend

Waltrip to honor UK Wildcats at Kentucky Speedway this weekend

Michael Waltrip Racing will honor the 2011-12 University of Kentucky NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship during Kentucky Speedway’s June 28-30 Quaker State 400 tripleheader weekend.

SPARTA, Ky. (June 25, 2012) — Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) and sponsor Aaron’s, Inc., will honor the 2011-12 Univ. of Kentucky NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship during Kentucky Speedway’s June 28-30 Quaker State 400 tripleheader weekend by racing a special paint scheme on No. 55 “Dream Machine” driven by Kentuckian Michael Waltrip and placing the Wildcats’ National Championship trophy on display for fans throughout the weekend.

The Wildcats and Head Coach John Calipari earned their program’s eighth all-time national NCAA basketball title and its first since 1998 with a 67-59 victory over the Univ. of Kansas Jayhawks on April 2 in New Orleans, La.

“We’re proud Michael will be representing his home commonwealth and the Wildcats’ achievements when he competes for our ‘Quaker State 400’ title and look forward to welcoming UK’s loyal Big Blue Nation to a signature Kentucky event,” said Kentucky Speedway General Manager Mark Simendinger.

Waltrip, the 2003 and 2001 Daytona 500 champion from Owensboro, Ky., will make his second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) start of the season and the 768th of his career in the speedway’s Quaker State 400 June 30. He will make his third Kentucky Speedway start after appearing in the 2005 and 2004 300-mile NASCAR Nationwide Series events at the 107,000-seat venue.

MWR also will be represented in the 43-car field with Martin Truex Jr., who enters this Sunday’s road-course race in Sonoma, Calif., ranked seventh the NSCS championship standings and Clint Bowyer, who will start the 350-mile road test ranked ninth in the standings.

The Quaker State 400 anchors an event weekend that opens Thursday, June 28 with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series UNOH 225 and continues Friday, June 29 with the NASCAR Nationwide Series Feed The Children 300.

Tickets, campsites and daily infield Fan Zone passes for all events can be purchased by logging on to http://www.kentuckyspeedway.com/tickets, calling 1-859-578-2300 or visiting the Kentucky Speedway corporate offices at 1 Speedway Drive, Sparta, Ky., 41086 just off of Interstate 71 Exit 57 and the newly-expanded, seven-lane Kentucky Hwy. 35.