Fans Eager for a Shot at the Grand Prize at the Sprint Summer Showdown

Thousands of fans will be at Atlanta Motor Speedway to see which NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver will win Sunday’s AdvoCare 500, but none will be watching with more interest than the five who have a shot at a portion of the $3 million payout in the Sprint Summer Showdown presented by HTC EVO™3D.

Andrea Gay, Helene Cross, Ronald Rempinski, Dana Hardie and Molly Hilyard will be in Atlanta to see whether their qualified driver can claim the Sprint Summer Showdown title and the $3 million payout – $1 million for the driver, $1 million for the driver’s charity, and $1 million for a lucky fan (or fans).

“Fans are what make this sport so great, and fans have made the Sprint Summer Showdown presented by HTC EVO 3D promotion a huge success,” said Tim Considine, director of sports marketing for Sprint. “We’d love to show our gratitude to every fan who entered by handing over a $1 million check to one of the five Sunday night.”

Each of the five correctly picked the winning driver for one of the qualifying races on Sprint.com/Speed during the promotion, which began with the Brickyard 400 on July 31. Their names were then randomly chosen from the pool of entrants who correctly picked the winning driver for each race, and they are paired with that driver for the final race of the promotion at Atlanta. If their driver wins the race, the fan(s) win $1 million.

Because he won two of the five qualifying races, Brad Keselowski will have two fans paired with him in Atlanta. If he wins, the fans will split the $1 million fan portion of the payout equally.

To help fans and viewers identify which drivers are finalists for the Sprint Summer Showdown, the four drivers’ cars will feature special yellow numbers and spoilers for this event.

One of the four designated charities can also claim part of the $3 million Sprint Summer Showdown purse if their respective driver crosses the finish line first on Sunday night.

The drivers, their paired fans and designated charities are:

Andrea Gay, Voorhees, N.J. – Gay played her cards right by picking a driver she felt was a long shot to win the Brickyard 400. When Paul Menard crossed the finish line at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to claim his first-ever NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win, he also captured Gay’s heart.

Gay: “I’m completely ecstatic about the opportunity to visit Atlanta and cheer on Paul. He’s my favorite driver now. I’ve never won anything and I’ve never been to a NASCAR race, so this is very exciting. I just started taking classes for a master’s program and my son is also going to school full-time, so we would use the money to help pay for that. It’s an amazing opportunity.”

Helene Cross, Kansas City, Mo. – Cross picked Brad Keselowski to win at Pocono Raceway before he injured his ankle during pre-race testing. In spite of his injury, Cross stuck to her choice and it certainly paid off.

Cross: “I’ve never won anything before and I knew of Brad from his Nationwide Series days. I actually picked him before he injured his foot. He was a dark horse at the time and I liked that about him. If I were to win the money, I’ve got two grandchildren who live with me and college is right around the corner. I’d help them with money for college and pay off my bills.”

Ron Rempinski, St. Charles, Mo. – A recent tour of Daytona International Speedway rekindled Rempinki’s interest in NASCAR. He plans to bring his entire family to Atlanta for this once-in-a-lifetime experience and his first trip to a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Rempinski admits he didn’t know a lot about Marcos Ambrose when he picked him to win at Watkins Glen International, but the driver’s impressive road course stats won him over.

Rempinski – “I don’t have a favorite driver, so when I got to Sprint.com/Speed, I saw Marcos’ name listed first. I clicked on his name and saw his statistics at Watkins Glen and liked what I saw, so I picked him. If I were fortunate enough to win, there’s a lot I’d do with the money. I have three daughters. One is just starting college and the other two will be heading to college in a couple of years. This money would definitely go a long way toward helping them pay for their educations.”

Dana Hardie, Laurel Hill, N.C. – Hardie admits that if Kyle Busch wins the Sprint Summer Showdown, she would likely faint at the thought of $1 million going into her bank account. She picked Busch, her favorite driver since his rookie season, before every qualifying race of the Sprint Summer Showdown and it paid off when he went to Victory Lane at Michigan International Speedway.

Hardie – “It’s a dream come true and a once-in-a-lifetime chance for me to have a shot at $1 million. This will be my first time on a plane and my first trip to Atlanta. I’m a huge race fan, but I’ve only gone to one race in my life, at Darlington Raceway. My fiancée and I have been pulling for Kyle since he was a rookie, and he’s our favorite driver. I have three boys and if I were to win the money, they would never want for anything. My family has had a rough time recently. I’ve been unemployed for a while and my fiancée was recently laid off, so this money would really come in handy.”

Molly Hilyard, Sidney, Oh. – Hilyard registered for the promotion for the first time last week, prior to the final qualifying race of the Sprint Summer Showdown at Bristol Motor Speedway. She’s been an avid race fan for most of her life and says her favorite driver is one of the former pilots of “The Blue Deuce,” Rusty Wallace. It was her love of the No. 2 car that caused her to pick Keselowski on Sprint.com/Speed. This weekend will mark the first time this stay-at-home mother of two will see a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in person.

Hilyard – “If Brad wins, I’m going to scream like a banshee. I’d use the money to buy some land and take care of my kids. I’d use it to make sure my family is happy.”

For more information on the drivers’ designated charities, visit:

Habitat for Humanity – www.habitat.org
Brad Keselowski’s Checkered Flag Foundation – www.checkeredflagfoundation.org
Victory Junction – www.victoryjunction.org
Kyle Busch Foundation – www.kylebuschfoundation.org

Sprint PR

• Author
• Recent Posts

Speedway Digest Staff

Latest posts by Speedway Digest Staff (see all)

• Talladega Superspeedway Weekend Schedule - April 14, 2024
• Odd Tony Stewart Talladega Post Race Q&A - May 7, 2012
• Team Chevy Post Talladega Race Rundown - May 7, 2012