Charitable events combined to raise more than $130,000 during the Toyota/Save Mart 350 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series weekend at Infineon Raceway. Most of the proceeds will benefit the Sonoma Chapter of Speedway Children’s Charities, the charitable arm of Infineon Raceway, which has distributed more than $3.3 million to qualified youth groups in Sonoma County since 2002.
The Children’s Champions Grand Marshal’s Banquet generated $90,000, while the eighth annual KFOX Race-n-Rock Charity Auction raised more than $35,000. The top-selling auction item was a Jeff Gordon signed firesuit, which netted $2,500. Other top sellers included a Dale Earnhardt Jr. helmet – $2,200, and a guitar signed by country music duo Brooks & Dunn –$2,050.
Nearly $5,000 was also generated through donations from fans that enjoyed a ride on the new Ferris wheel, located above Turn 8 on the road course. The Kasey Kahne Custom Guitar Raffle, a joint venture between Speedway Children’s Charities and the Kasey Kahne Foundation, netted an additional $1,600. Windsor’s Melody Tapparo was the lucky winner of the signed Kasey Kahne Fender guitar.
“NASCAR weekend is our biggest opportunity to generate funds for Speedway Children’s Charities and we appreciate the generosity of all the sponsors and contributors who made this possible,” said Steve Page, president and general manager of Infineon Raceway.
