A nickel might not be much, but when you pile up tens of thousands of them it adds up to real money – dollars that can help in the fight against cancer.  And piling up money is what more than a thousand iRacing.com members will be doing next Saturday (July 24) when they participate in the 2010 iRacing.com World Tour race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  The race, which is open to all members of iRacing.com, celebrates NASCAR’s Brickyard 400 by raising as much money as possible for LIVESTRONG the organization founded by cancer survivor and champion cyclist Lance Armstrong to inspire and empower people affected by cancer.

“Many people today wouldn’t bother to pick a nickel up off the ground,” said Tony Gardner, iRacing.com’s president and CFO.  “But if we can get a sufficiently large number of people to contribute enough nickels, then five cents at a time can generate a significant amount of money for a very worthwhile cause.”

Gardner noted that there are more than 20,000 iRacing members and explained that the company will contribute five cents for every one of the 160 scheduled laps completed by each driver participating in the benefit for LIVESTRONG.  And that’s just for starters – iRacing.com members and their friends are being encouraged to also make their own pledges supporting drivers who are competing in the event. 

The  Brickyard 400

The inaugural Brickyard 400, held in 1994, represented a milestone in NASCAR history – the first stock car race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  That race was won by Jeff Gordon, who went on to add three more Brickyard 400 trophies to his collection.  Second only to the Daytona 500 in terms of prestige on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule, the race would also be won by Dale Earnhardt, Dale Jarrett, Rusty Wallace and Tony Stewart before four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson won three out of four Brickyard 400s between 2006 and ’09.

The iRacing.com Brickyard 400 Benefiting LIVESTRONG will begin at 8:30pm ET on July 24th or (00:30 GMT, Sunday July 25th.)  The race participants, expected to number in the thousands, will be split into a series of 34-car iterations, all of which will run simultaneously.  Fans can view the race of the top 34-car split on the Web at http://www.iracing.com/multimedia/live-broadcasts/

Included in the list of prizes that will be awarded to top fundraisers are tickets to the 2011 Brickyard 400, a NASCAR Racing Experience, and five $100 NASCAR Superstore Gift Cards.

Individuals wishing to support the fundraising element of the iRacing.com Brickyard 400 Benefiting LIVESTRONG will find instructions for pledging a donation at http://www.inracingnews.com/iracing-news/iracingcom-brickyard-400-%E2%80%93-benefiting-livestrong/.