Getty Sherry Pollex prepares to drive the pace car at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
A special guest will set the stage for the NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Sherry Pollex, the longtime partner of Martin Truex Jr. and co-founder of the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation, will serve as grand marshal. She will deliver the most famous words in motorsports and tell the drivers to start their engines on Saturday, Sept. 18 (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network).
Pollex revealed the news with an emotional tweet. She showed off the special Sherry Strong scheme that Truex will run during the race, which references the site she created to empower other women, provide important information, and help them recognize the symptoms of ovarian cancer. Pollex then revealed that Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris asked her to give the command at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Not only did Johnny Morris surprise me this week with a teal car that has SherryStrong on it…then he asked me to give the command to Start Your Engines Sat night 😭🙌 Bristol, here we come 💙🎗💪 @MTJFoundation @SherryStrongOC #DriversStartYourEngines
The race at Bristol Motor Speedway will mark the second high-profile event where Pollex has a played a role in the pre-race festivities. She previously served as the pace car driver for the 2018 Bank of America Roval 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Pollex climbed into the Toyota Camry TRD pace car, which featured a Sherry Strong logo on the doors, and led the field to the green flag to kick off the final race of the Round of 16. Ryan Blaney won the race and moved on to the Round of 12 with Truex and 10 other drivers.
Pollex & Truex Kicked Off the Weekend With a Special Event
Highlights from the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation Catwalk for a Cause where children being treated for cancer walk with members of the NASCAR industry.
Pollex serving as the grand marshal for the Bristol race continues a special weekend for the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation. The organization hosted the 11th annual Catwalk for a Cause on Wednesday, Sept. 15, to raise money, help drive awareness, and boost advocacy for underfunded ovarian and childhood cancer.
The special event featured the biggest names in NASCAR taking trips down a catwalk with children undergoing cancer treatment. Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, Ryan Newman, Truex, William Byron, and Clint Bowyer among others all accompanied the children and danced with them.
Fans who could not make the trip to see the event in person had extra access for the first time in Catwalk for a Cause’s history. They could watch a live broadcast of the event on YouTube, make donations, and bid on a multitude of items.
Truex and Pollex met with Fox Sports reporter Bob Pockrass prior to the special evening and expressed excitement about bringing the fundraising event back after a one-year hiatus. They explained that the Catwalk for a Cause is their biggest event on the calendar and that the 2019 version raised $650,000.
NASCAR Drivers Banded Together to Raise Money
The Catwalk for a Cause is only the most recent way in which the NASCAR drivers and prominent people from the racing industry have supported the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation. They also auctioned off the spot above their doors for upcoming races.
The top drivers across ARCA, Truck, Xfinity, and Cup banded together in early September and participated in a special auction. Race fans could bid on the opportunity to put the name of a cancer hero above the door of a race car for a date at Martinsville (Truck Series) or Kansas Speedway (ARCA, Xfinity, and Cup).
The auctions came to an end on Sept. 13 with a multitude of fans helping raise money for the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation. One person, in particular, paid $3,251 on eBay to put a name on Kurt Busch’s No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Camaro.