Earnhardt, Gordon, Martin to participate in Daytona Fan Fest on Friday

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 12, 2009) – Hendrick Motorsports teammates Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin will be on hand Friday during this weekend's NASCAR Preseason Thunder Fan Fests at historic Daytona International Speedway. Earnhardt, driver of the No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet, and Gordon, driver of the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet, both are previous Daytona 500 winners. Martin, driver of the No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, finished second in the Great American Race in 2007. Race fans can get their sneak peek of Speedweeks 2010 with numerous activities on Friday, Jan. 15 and Saturday, Jan. 16 with their favorite drivers from the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series in the Sprint FANZONE located in the heart of the “World Center of Racing.” Among the activities planned for both days include: •Interactive fan forums •Autograph sessions •Show cars, displays, music •Online auction •Blood drive Earnhardt, Gordon and Martin will make appearances on Friday, Jan. 15 beginning at 6 p.m. and will be joined by 2009 Daytona 500 champion Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman, Jeff Burton, Joey Logano, Paul Menard, Travis Kvapil and AJ Allmendinger. Tickets, which are available for $15, are on sale now at 1-800-PITSHOP or online at www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com with autograph session availability limited to 250 people per driver in advance. To request access to the special autograph sessions, race fans can call 1-800-PITSHOP or visit the Daytona International Speedway ticket office. The only drivers with advance reservations for the driver autograph sessions will be Earnhardt, Newman, Kenseth, Busch, Gordon, Harvick and Martin. The remainder of the driver autograph sessions will be done by a first-come basis. Additional drivers and more details about the NASCAR Preseason Thunder Fan Fests will be released in the coming weeks. “The NASCAR Preseason Thunder Fan Fests are going to provide a great opportunity for the fans to interact with the drivers and get pumped up about the upcoming Speedweeks events and the 52nd annual Daytona 500,” Daytona International Speedway President Robin Braig said. Speedweeks 2010 is highlighted by the season-opening 52nd annual Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 14. Other events include the Camping World 300 Nationwide Series race on Saturday, Feb. 13, the NextEra Energy Resources 250 Camping World Truck Series race on Friday, Feb. 12, the Gatorade Duel At Daytona qualifying races on Thursday, Feb. 11 and a racing tripleheader on Saturday Feb. 6 with Daytona 500 Qualifying Presented by Kroger, the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 and the Budweiser Shootout.