Our “Speedy Spud” was off to the races this week! The team enjoyed some time off in Nashville for a few days before heading to Bristol Baby!
On Thursday, we brought our #bigidahopotato to Bristol Motor Speedway for Food City Family Race Night! It was a free event that featured entertainment, free food sampling, show cars, and NASCAR driver autograph sessions! The #taterteam had our own autograph session where fans could get our hero cards and take photos. I joked with fans that Ron the “Tater-Toter’s” driver autograph would be worth a lot of money one day! The team also got some NASCAR drivers’ autographs including Bubba Wallace and Elliot Sadler! We made sure to tell them to check out the Big Idaho Potato truck and to touch the spud for good luck.
We also had a signature board there to raise money for Mountain Mission School based in Grundy, VA. The school serves over 200 children and provides a home, school, and church. Since 1921, over 20,000 at-risk children from over 60 countries have been brought out of their stressful situations thanks to MMS. The Idaho Potato Commission donated $1 for every signature we received at Race Night! Thanks to everyone who stopped by to say “hello” and signed our board for this great cause.
That day we were also visited by Don, Bill, and Stanley from the Idaho Potato Commission who were in town for the weekend! Food City sells a lot of Idaho Potatoes and has been a long time sponsor of NASCAR. We enjoyed a lovely dinner with them and had a great time catching up!
Our “Tater Team for a Day” giveaway winner, Brenna McLeran and her guest from Colorado Springs, also flew into Bristol that day! We picked her up from the airport and gave her a big “tater” welcome! We had been waiting for months to meet her and it was so surreal that she had finally arrived. She was so nice and I couldn’t wait to have her as a new tater team member.
After a spud-tubular time at the race track, we were invited to come to two Food City locations near the speedway in Bristol and Blountville. We had two additional signature boards for MMS on both Friday and Saturday, which means we were able to donate $1500 in total to the school! The folks in Tennessee were so welcoming and enjoyed having our “tater” in their town. Danny Hunt also came to hang out with us at Food City. Danny has been a long-time fan of the truck, and always takes such great care of the Tater Team when we come to Bristol! He calls us his “second family from Idaho”. Danny even donated tickets for our NASCAR ticket giveaway on social media. We can’t thank him enough for his hospitality and look forward to seeing him again when we return.
Although it was a crazy and busy weekend, it wasn’t without a little fun! We took our honorary tater team member and her guest to the Food City 300 NASCAR race at BMS. We had such a fun time, and they both really enjoyed the experience. Brenna said that we really do have a dream job, and was so thankful to be a part of it all!
We are on our way to Hartford, CT for a Meals on Wheels charity event! Until next time potato peeps!
-Tater Twin Kaylee
