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The Sunday before Memorial Day

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is known around the world
as the greatest day in racing.

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You have three pinnacle races,
three iconic races that are raced

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around the world, the last of
which is the Coca-Cola 600 here.

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That race is a test of man
and machine it's 600 miles of endurance.

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You start off in the daylight, you race
through dusk and into the evening.

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So it's an endurance race,
which is a stress test on the equipment.

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But that race is the even Memorial Day.

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And so many Americans think of Memorial
Day as the beginning of summer.

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But the significance of that holiday
is not lost on us.

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We want to be sure that the feel,
the tone, the timbre,

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the things that we do all weekend
long reflect the meaning of that holiday.

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Internally in our company,

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the Coke 600 is kind of held apart
and special because of the date.

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It's significance.

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We've been racing on this date since 1960.

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I've been in sports for almost 40 years
and I've been to a lot of unique

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sporting events,
some of the iconic events in our country.

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This one, the Coca-Cola 600,
probably does the best job

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of reflecting the values of our country
and certainly honoring the service

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that our men and women
in the military offer to our country.

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No other track

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does it like this.

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All the military vehicles,
everybody comes together.

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I've seen brothers in arms.
With everything else going

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on, it still reminds me, hey, this is
this is why we do this.

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The things that we do as we look towards
Memorial Day, the next day,

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the names of fallen servicemen
and women are on the windshields

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of each of the race cars.

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We actually stop the race halfway through.

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So you're at a racetrack.

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I can't. May not able to hear you
carry on a conversation

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because of all the noise and the energy
that's going on in that.

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Halfway through, we bring the cars down
pit road, we turn the engines off,

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and for 30, 40 seconds, we actually have
a moment of silence to reflect

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on the importance of the holiday
and the meaning of sacrifice.

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It is a powerful moment in sports and one
that we are so proud to be able to do.

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And there's nothing like it anywhere else.

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The fact that

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Speedway Motorsports is so involved
in the military community,

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you can't help but have pride
and want to work for this company.

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I hope they understand how much pride
we have in our military and how much we do

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to support our military.

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For about 360 days out of the year,

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the average person
does not think about their military

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unless it shows up in the news.

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So to have something of this scale,

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bring attention on it
for millions of viewers

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coast to coast in our country is

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important.

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There's a lot

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that goes unseen
when you wear the uniform.

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And so

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to be able to get support

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for the military members,
I think it's a huge deal.

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I want them to walk away

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not necessarily in awe

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of what we put on,
but in awe of how much we care.

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Because from Charlotte Motor Speedway, that's

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what Memorial Day race is
all about, is showing we care.

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I hope that those who are here

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and that those who are watching around
the world are listening on the radio,

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get a sense of our gratitude
for the cost of serving

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and that they leave
feeling a little bit more appreciated

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for what they have done for our country.