Responsible Fans Rewarded at the 2017 Daytona 500

02/27/2017

It was a weekend of firsts at the Daytona 500 on February 26, 2017 as a new era in stock car racing began. Even before the drivers started their engines, though, fans at Daytona International Speedway were the first to take the Busch NA Good Sport pledge – a promise to never drive drunk and always have a safe ride home.

The race marks the third time the track, Anheuser-Busch, Americrown and TEAM Coalition have partnered to promote responsible drinking and traffic safety. 219 fans made the pledge to be designated drivers for their group. All of them had the opportunity to receive a free souvenir photo and they had a chance to be selected as the Designated Driver for the Race.

daytona-2017-02-26-06-38-41am
daytona-2017-02-26-09-29-23am
daytona-2017-02-26-09-56-33am

One randomly selected, responsible fan will win the Responsibility Has Its Rewards (RHIR) sweepstakes. The grand prize includes two tickets and a VIP experience for two at the Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday July 1, 2017. Daytona launched both the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and the new web-based pledge component of the RHIR sweepstakes for responsible race fans. Between now and the end of the season, NASCAR fans who go online to make their pledge to prevent drunk driving are entered for a chance to win a trip to the 2018 NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Click here to see complete sweepstakes rules.

The Designated Driver for the Race from the July 2, 2016 Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway, Wayne Debish, received his Responsibility Has Its Rewards sweepstakes prize – two tickets and a VIP behind-the-scenes experience before the race.

Anheuser-Busch has led our industry in promoting responsible drinking for more than 35 years, and the Busch NA Good Sport program reminds fans who choose to drink to do so responsibly and get their friends home safely. We all share the same streets after the race. This partnership with Daytona International Speedway, TEAM and the fans displays our collective responsibility to help keep our roads safe.Katja Zastrow, VP of CSR-Better World, Anheuser-Busch
Americrown believes responsible alcohol consumption improves the fan experience at events. As a proud member of the TEAM Coalition, we use proven training tools to educate our service staff as well as our partners in venue management.  Each day, we pledge to operate with the highest integrity for the benefit of all stakeholders.Rishi Nigam, Vice President, Americrown
The success of the Responsibility Has Its Rewards campaign is a direct result of the commitment from our members and all the designated driver program partners, including the tracks, concessionaires, beer companies and beer distributors. Teamwork is what this campaign is all about. We are demonstrating that when everyone – including the fans – takes responsibility, everyone wins.Jill Pepper, Executive Director, TEAM Coalition
Daytona International Speedway
Daytona International Speedway is the home of “The Great American Race” – the DAYTONA 500. Though the season-opening NASCAR Sprint Cup event garners most of the attention – as well as the largest audience in motorsports – the approximately 500-acre motorsports complex boasts the most diverse schedule of racing on the globe, thus earning it the title of “World Center of Racing.” In addition to eight major weekends of racing activity, rarely a week goes by that the Speedway grounds are not used for events that include civic and social gatherings, car shows, photo shoots, production vehicle testing and police motorcycle training. For more information, visit www.DaytonaInternationalSpeedway.com.
Anheuser-Busch
Anheuser-Busch and its employees build on a legacy of corporate social responsibility by focusing on three key areas: promoting alcohol responsibility, preserving and protecting the environment and supporting local communities. In the past three decades, Anheuser-Busch and its wholesalers have invested more than $1 billion in preventing drunk driving and underage drinking and promoting responsible retailing and advertising. Anheuser-Busch reduced total water use at its breweries by nearly 50 percent over the last 10 years. The company has been a leading aluminum recycler for more than 30 years. Each year Anheuser-Busch and its Foundation invest approximately $20 million in donations to charitable organizations that help in local communities. The company also has provided over 76 million cans of emergency drinking water to people impacted by natural and other disasters since 1988. Based in St. Louis, Anheuser-Busch, the leading American brewer, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev, the leading global brewer. For more information, visit www.anheuser-busch.com.
Americrown
Americrown, originally formed in 1989 by Lesa France Kennedy, Chief Executive Officer of International Speedway Corporation, is the leader in motorsports catering and concessions. Operating at 11 NASCAR-sanctioned tracks nationwide, Americrown touches millions of race fans annually. Our ever growing fleet of mobile food concessions and catering equipment is unparalleled in the industry. Anywhere, anytime. If you can dream it, we can do it!

Americrown’s team of industry professionals brings a wealth of experience and dedication to the table with an overall goal of customer satisfaction. We specialize in fine dining and food concession plans to not only fit the events at which we operate, but to optimize the guests’ experience! For more information, visit www.americrown.com.

TEAM Coalition
TEAM Coalition is an alliance of professional and collegiate sports, entertainment facilities, concessionaires, stadium service providers, the beer industry, distillers, broadcasters, traffic safety experts and others working together to promote responsible drinking and positive fan behavior at sports and entertainment facilities. TEAM Coalition members and supporters include NASCAR, Anheuser-Busch Companies, Americrown, Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, National Basketball Association, National Football League, National Hockey League, National Collegiate Athletic Association, Aramark, Delaware North Sportservice, Legends, Spectra, Beer Institute, National Beer Wholesalers Association, Constellation Brands, HEINEKEN USA, MillerCoors, Brown-Forman, Live Nation, National Association of Broadcasters, Contemporary Services Corporation, International Association of Venue Managers, Stadium Managers Association and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. For more information visit TEAMCoalition.org.
US DOT / NHTSA 2015 NATIONAL DATA:

• 10,265 people were killed as a result of alcohol-related (BAC > 0.08) car crashes, an increase of 3.2% from the 9,943 fatalities in 2014.

• Many, if not most of those lives would have been saved if people did not drive when they were impaired by alcohol or if they used sober, designated drivers or if they simply wore their seat belts.

• Statistics and research clearly show that 21-34 year old males are the demographic most likely to be involved in an automobile crash, drive when impaired by alcohol, and fail to buckle up.

(left to right) Gonzalo Aida, ISC/NASCAR; Wayne Debish, Responsibility Has Its Rewards Sweepstakes Winner; Warren Poore, Stewart-Haas Racing; Jean Debish, Guest of Winner; Keri Parnell, Busch; Alex Ozenberger, TEAM Coalition