Aug. 31, 2014 was a hot, steamy day in South Georgia and the loud hum of the motors reached a deafening crescendo as the cars raced around the 1.54 mile quad oval track. Edgar Strader and his wife, Linda, sat in the stands mesmerized as the drivers whizzed by. Just seeing the cars and knowing that inside at the wheel sat some of the best and well-known drivers of our time only added to their excitement. The Straders watched as Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Danica Patrick, and Linda’s favorite driver, Kevin Harvick, took to the track, and they felt the exhilarating rush from the speed of the cars and the noise of the crowd around them.
The Straders were just a couple out of 25 Bennett owner operators who won tickets to the Oral-B USA NASCAR 500 Sprint Cup Race held at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Labor Day 2014 after they entered a contest held by Bennett Motor Express.
Linda Strader said when they heard they had won the tickets, they were excited. Even though they are both NASCAR fans, the Labor Day race in Hampton, Georgia was the first one they had ever attended. “I’ve always wanted to go to a race,” Linda said. “It was one of the highlights of my life.”
She said she has always followed NASCAR Racer Kevin Harvick and it was great to see him on the track, but she added that the best part of the day for her was meeting and talking with Marcia Taylor, president and chief executive officer of Bennett International Group. “She’s a peach and an awesome lady,” Linda said. “I really like her a lot.”
During the day of the event, the group of winners from Bennett got the opportunity to tour the pits. “That was really interesting,” she said. “The whole day we (the contest winners) were treated really well. It was an awesome prize.”
And the group was there to witness as Kasey Kahne crossed the finish line and was pronounced the winner of the Oral-B USA NASCAR Sprint Cup Trophy.
The Straders reside in Dayton, Ohio and both drive for Bennett’s DriveAway division. Linda said she loves driving for Bennett. “I’ve gotten to see places all over the U.S. I wouldn’t have gotten a chance to see otherwise,” she said. “It’s been great!”
This was the second year Bennett held a contest where owner operators could win tickets to the NASCAR Labor Day race.
Bennett Motor Express and Bennett DriveAway are divisions of Bennett International Group. The company’s home office is located in McDonough, Georgia. For more information about Bennett International Group, Bennett Motor Express, DriveAway, and Bennett’s other divisions, visit www.bennettig.com.