In the beginning, there were Legend Cars and Bandoleros, and the fans said they were good. On Tuesday, school buses and area clergy will converge on Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Bojangles' Summer Shootout's Faster Pastor school bus slobberknocker among local members of the church.
In addition to racing's future stars dueling for points and championship positioning in the Shootout's eighth round, six of the world's fastest pastors will rumble around Charlotte's frontstretch quarter-mile in search of a higher (horse)power. As an added bonus, all race fans named "Matthew," "Mark," "Luke" or "John" get in FREE with a valid I.D.
This year's Faster Pastor field includes:
- Jeff Bates - Elevation Church
- Chris Daniel - Revolution Church Kannapolis
- Samuel Donahue - Hope City Church
- David Henderson - Venture Church
- Kris Mares - Mount Tabor United Methodist Church
- Rusty Price - Camino Community Center
Mares, the defending Faster Pastor race winner, said she's anxious to bring home the trophy once again.
"I'm so excited to defend my title," Mares added. "My plan is to get in the lead and stay in the lead."
Mares will have plenty of stiff competition - including Chris Daniel of Revolution Church Kannapolis. Nothing short of a flag-to-flag victory will appease Daniel in his school bus racing debut.
"We're excited to be a part of such a great community event and to bring attention to the church," Daniel said. "My strategy is simple: hammer down. We're going to see who's living clean when we get going on Tuesday night."
Gates open at 5 p.m. with opening ceremonies set for 7:30 p.m.
