Above: The Drive Away Hunger charity event, which takes place at Miller Motorsports Park on Wednesday, October 10, allows guests to drive their street cars on a world-class racetrack in exchange for cash or food donations to benefit the Tooele Food Bank. [Photo courtesy Miller Motorsports Park/Jeremy Henrie]

Fun driving event to benefit Tooele Food Bank

The fifth annual “Drive Away Hunger” charity event will take place at Miller Motorsports Park tomorrow, Wednesday, October 10.

Drive Away Hunger allows those who always wanted to drive their street cars on a world-class racetrack a chance to do just that, and help families in need at the same time. The event will benefit the Tooele Food Bank, which provides food supplies to Tooele County residents in need of assistance.

“Drive Away Hunger is one of our favorite annual traditions,” said John Larson, General Manager of Miller Motorsports Park. “The holidays are just around the corner, and there are many families in Tooele County who will be seeking assistance from the Tooele Food Bank. We hope everyone will come out and have some fun on the racetrack while helping a very worthy cause.”

“The Tooele County Food Bank is very pleased to be in partnership with Miller Motorsports Park to ‘drive away hunger’ in our community,” said Lori Sandoval, director of the Tooele County Food Bank. “This program is a fun way for people in our community to help those who are less fortunate and in need of food for their household.”

Drive Away Hunger is being combined with MMP’s final Wide Open Wednesday event of the year. The event will take place from 4:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m., and each donation of $25 or an equivalent amount of food will allow a car (which can have multiple drivers) to take part in the Wide Open Wednesday program.

Under the Wide Open Wednesday rules, drivers are allowed to drive on the racetrack at whatever speed they are comfortable. Cars are released one at a time and the laps are not timed, so it is not a racing event and it is not a competition of any kind. Cone “chicanes” will be set up at strategic places along the track to keep overall speeds to a reasonable level. Drivers will be able to take as many laps as time and the number of other participants allow until the event ends. All drivers must have a current, valid driver’s license and every driver must wear a helmet; MMP will have a limited number of helmets available for use. Reckless or dangerous driving will not be allowed, and drivers not operating their cars in a safe manner will be asked to leave. Both the 2.24-mile East Course and the 2.18-mile West Course will be utilized, and participants can switch back and forth between the two. Due to safety regulations, no passengers will be allowed and all convertible cars must have roll-over protection (either factory-installed roll-over protection or aftermarket roll bar).

Food donations should be high-protein, non-perishable food items. Cash donations are also welcome. All profits from this event will be donated to the Tooele Food Bank.

For information about Drive Away Hunger at Miller Motorsports Park click here. Information on the Tooele County Food Bank is available at the Tooele County website, www.co.tooele.ut.us.

Media Contact:

John Gardner, Media Manager, Miller Motorsports Park, (435) 277-8101; or email.