Grand Bayou Charity Challenge
Apr
11
,
2008
- 7:46 am | to |
Apr
12,
2008
- 7:46 pm | Etc/GMT-5 |
Second
Grand Bayou Charity Challenge
to benefit UnlockingAutism.org
The Board of Governors of the Grand Bayou Charity Challenge are finalizing plans and firming up details for this year's Grand Bayou Charity Challenge which is slated for April 11-12, 2008. The event will be held once again at No Problem Raceway in Belle Rose, LA, and promises to be bigger and better than last year. All proceeds will benefit UnlockingAutism.org and we are hoping to top last year's donation of $12,000.00. We welcome Coastal Waste Services as the main sponsor for this year's charity race events!
The festivities will start on Friday afternoon, April 11, 2008, with a lapping/practice day from 12-4 pm. A sponsor's reception will be held Friday night at Cafe Lafourche in Donaldsonville, LA featuring a buffet and a cash bar.
With assistance from the Club South Runners of Baton Rouge and the New Orleans Track Club, a 2-Mile Fun Run is being planned for Saturday morning followed by regular warm-up and qualifying sessions for the race car drivers. There will be preferred parking in the car club corral and food will be available at the concession stand. The track will open for touring laps during the lunch break followed by a practice session by the Tiger Cycling Foundation who will have their own race on the track during the afternoon heat and feature races by the Grand Bayou Race Series regulars.
Local vocalist, Jackie Baudier, will sing the national anthem prior to the start of the afternoon racing. Special Events Master of Ceremonies for the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino (Biloxi, MS), Steve Greenfield, will be on hand to emcee the days events.
Once the racing is finished, The Jay B. Elston Band will be crankin' it up Southern style with some classic rock, blues, and country music for the BBQ and awards presentation.
The pre-registration entry fee for one driver is $125 which includes an event t-shirt and 1 ticket (armband) for the Saturday BBQ. Tickets for the Friday sponsors reception will be sold for $20 each and extra tickets for the BBQ will cost only $8. Registration cut-off is April 9, 2008. These prices will increase after that date.
Sponsors are always needed and very welcome and there are special packages available at two levels. For $250, a sponsor will get a one-color logo on the back of the event t-shirts, advertising on the back of all event literature, 2 tickets for the Friday sponsors reception, 2 tickets for the Saturday races, and 2 tickets for the Saturday BBQ. New this year is the $500 sponsor level which offers double of everything included at the $250 level PLUS 1 passenger ride in the pace car at the start of one of the heat or feature races!
The hosts of the Grand Bayou Charity Challenge, Chris & Lois Wilken and Mike & Patty Poupart, are joined by many volunteers that are working to make this event happen. We ask that you join us on April 11-12, 2008 as we not only tap into the strength of our local communities, but help UnlockingAutism.org reach out across the nation to unify the parents of the nearly 550,000 autistic people in the U.S. in an effort to sort out the mystery of autism.
Click on the following links for event schedule and race registration forms (requires Adobe Acrobat reader):