It is apropos that Texas Motor Speedway is exhibiting “No Limits” in honoring NASCAR Sprint Cup Series icon Jeff Gordon’s final season and his final start at the preeminent motorsports venue coming Sunday, Nov. 8, for the AAA Texas 500.
The speedway has created a special logo for the celebration that will be known as “Jeff Gordon’s Final Rodeo,” which will feature a multitude of tributes ranging from a week-long “Live Mural Experience” with renown sports artist David Arrigo to a 24-member sky diving team honoring him during pre-race ceremonies for the AAA Texas 500 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race (1 p.m. CT, TV: NBC, Radio: PRN, SiriusXM).
The tributes officially begin tonight – 24 days before the AAA Texas 500 – when the back of the world’s largest, high-definition, LED video board that faces Interstate 35W will be illuminated with a massive “24” beginning at 7:30 p.m. CT. The tribute, which will stretch nearly 10 stories high and across 20,633 square feet on the back of “Big Hoss TV,” will be lit from dusk to dawn each day leading up the AAA Texas 500 as well as the evening of the race.
Here’s a glimpse of the highlights from the nearly two dozen tributes that are scheduled to honor Gordon’s final season and start at Texas Motor Speedway:
- “Live Mural Experience” (Monday, Nov. 2-Sunday, Nov. 8) – Arrigo, who specializes in painting live large murals for major sporting events such as the Olympics and Major League Baseball and NHL all-star games, will set up shop in popular areas around the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex and paint among the public from Monday, Nov. 2, until prior to the green flag for the AAA Texas 500. He will work on five individual canvasses that will feature moments of Gordon’s career at Texas Motor Speedway and the quintet of art combined will compose the look of one overall painting. One of the paintings will be presented to Gordon and the others will be auctioned off to benefit Speedway Children’s Charities-Texas.
- RE/MAX Skydiving Team (Sunday, Nov. 8) – The team will expand to 24 skydivers to acknowledge his iconic car number and each will carry “24” flags on their descent to the infield during the pre-race activities for the AAA Texas 500. The 24th skydiver will carry a giant 20’x40′ flag bearing Gordon’s No. 24 to culminate the dive.
- Texas Motor Speedway Gift Presentation (Friday, Nov. 6) – Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage will live up to his reputation as “America’s Greatest Racing Promoter” with the unique gifts he will be presenting to Gordon during a press conference in the infield media center (2-2:30 p.m.).
- “Throwback Thursdays” (Thursday, Oct. 29, and Thursday, Nov. 5) – Through photography and video, Texas Motor Speedway will take a look back at Gordon’s TMS career that dates to the 1997 opening of the venue. On Oct. 29, the Thursday prior to race week, the speedway will showcase Gordon through 24 images, with at least one representing every year since the speedway’s opening. The speedway also will release these images through a process that animates the still photos and brings them to life through PicDrift. Through camera moves and puppet movement, the same still photos suddenly have movement ranging from Gordon’s car driving on track to him shaking hands with then-Texas Governor George W. Bush. The following Thursday, the speedway will release a 24-second video that capsulizes Gordon’s career at Texas Motor Speedway.
- Tribute signage (Thursday, Nov. 5-Sunday, Nov. 8) – It will be difficult to miss that this will be Gordon’s “Final Rodeo” at Texas Motor Speedway. The speedway will have the tribute logo above every grandstand entrance gate, on the track SAFER walls and above the South Tunnel entrance as well as a “24” on the infield ballfield grass. The Omni Dallas Hotel, in partnership with Texas Motor Speedway, also will illuminate a giant “24” (along with TMS and broadcast partner NBC) on the side of their building during race weekend (Nov. 6-8) to honor Gordon in the country’s ninth-largest city.
- Celebrity Video Messages (Friday, Nov. 6, and Sunday, Nov. 8) – Throughout the AAA Texas 500 NASCAR tripleheader weekend, Texas Motor Speedway will show fans videos from a variety of notable celebrities and athletes personally honoring Gordon on “Big Hoss TV,” the largest, high-definition LED video board in the world.
- Fan Promotion (Sunday, Nov. 8) – The speedway will have a social media promotion with a “Jeff Gordon Final Rodeo” decal that will be distributed to fans attending the AAA Texas 500. If fans place the sticker on their vehicle, take a photo and post it to their favorite social media account using the hashtag, #JGFinalRodeo, they will be automatically entered to win an all-expenses paid trip (hotel, air, tickets) to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards Banquet on Friday, Dec. 4, in Las Vegas.
- Merchandise And Food (Thursday, Nov. 5-Sunday, Nov. 8) – Speedway partners Speedway Motorsports, Inc. Properties (SMIP) and Levy Restaurants also will get involved in the Gordon farewell. SMIP will produce a limited-edition “Jeff Gordon Final Rodeo” coin ($15) with only 795 being made to coincide with his NASCAR-record consecutive starts streak being extended to that number at Texas. Other items include a commemorative t-shirt (prices vary) and a special four-page section in the AAA Texas 500 race program ($10). Levy Restaurants, aware of Gordon’s affection for Rocky Road ice cream, will produce an exotic, bacon-themed ice cream sundae called the “Final Rocky Road-eo.”
Full details on the Gordon tributes will be announced closer to the activation dates.
TMS PR
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