News

Fraternal Order of Eagles Enters Dirt Track Racing with Sponsorship of Knoxville Nationals Thursday Qualifying Night


Thursday, July 25, 2019
The Fraternal Order of Eagles (F.O.E), an international non-profit organization, will be the sponsor of Thursday, August 8, qualifying night of the NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Store. This will mark the first time F.O.E has promoted itself via grassroots, dirt track racing.

The F.O.E is dedicated to raising money for charities across the country through social events like the NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Store. One hundred percent of the $10 million raised annually by Eagles goes directly to individuals and communities who are in need.

“Iowa and racing are two things at the heart of the Fraternal Order of Eagles and its members, so we're tremendously excited to be a part of this year's Knoxville Nationals," said F.O.E. Grand Worthy President Ron Malz. "Iowa is home to our F.O.E. Diabetes Research Center, where we donated $25 million to fund groundbreaking medical research with the potential to change hundreds of millions of lives. It's also home to one of our Ekso GT suits, which are being donated throughout the country to help paralyzed veterans and citizens learn to walk again."

In 2008, the F.O.E. founded the Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center at the University of Iowa, just 100 miles northeast of Knoxville Raceway. The state-of-the-art facility has more than 100 doctors dedicated to finding new ways to combat diabetes. F.O.E. also partnered with Ekso Bionics to fund the donation of Ekso GT rehabilitation suits to medical facilities throughout the United States, including one at Younker Rehabilitation Center in Des Moines, Iowa.

“We’re proud to have the Fraternal Order of Eagles, an organization dedicated to improving the lives of others, join us at Knoxville Raceway for the greatest week of dirt track racing,” said Kendra Jacobs, Director of Marketing at Knoxville Raceway. “The NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Store brings together the greatest race car drivers and race fans anywhere and we’re confident that the F.O.E will feel the support of our great dirt track racing community.”

The F.O.E. Qualifying Night at the NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Store will take the green flag with hot laps at 7:15pm CT, on Thursday, August 8. Defending Knoxville Nationals champion, Brad Sweet, will be competing that night in a bid to earn his second consecutive title and $150,000 prize.

The 16 highest point earners following Wednesday’s BRANDT Professional Agriculture Qualifying Night and Thursday’s F.O.E. Qualifying Night will make up the top-eight starting rows in Saturday’s NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Store finale.

Tickets for the four-day event are available at www.knoxvilleraceway.com/tickets or by calling the Knoxville Raceway ticket office at 641-842-5431. Tickets for Thursday’s F.O.E. Qualifying night start at $41. Four-day packages for the NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Store start at $173.

All four nights of the 2019 NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Store will also be broadcast on live Pay-Per-View at www.dirtvision.com.

For more information on the event, including off-track activities including autograph sessions, concerts, live radio shows, and more, follow @KnoxvilleRaces on Twitter and like Knoxville Raceway on Facebook and Instagram.