It was a weekend full of excitement as the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series got under way at the 60th running of the Daytona 500 on February 18, 2018. In an overtime victory, Austin Dillon drove the iconic No. 3 car to victory lane 20 years after Dale Earnhardt Sr. won his only Daytona 500 race in the same car. Even before the drivers started their engines, though, fans at Daytona International Speedway took the Busch NA Responsibility Has Its Rewards pledge – a promise to never drive drunk and always have a safe ride home.
The race marks the fifth time the track, Anheuser-Busch, Americrown and TEAM Coalition have partnered to promote responsible drinking and traffic safety. 535 fans made the pledge to be to be a responsible race fan. All of them had the opportunity to receive a free souvenir photo and they had a chance to be selected as the Responsible Fan for the Race.
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 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday July 7, 2018. Daytona launched both the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and the new web-based pledge component of the RHIR sweepstakes for responsible race fans. Between now and October 28, 2018, 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 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway or the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Click here to see complete sweepstakes rules.
US DOT / NHTSA 2016 NATIONAL DATA:
• In 2016, 10,497 people were killed as a result of alcohol-related (BAC > 0.08) car crashes, an increase of 1.7% from the 10,265 fatalities in 2015.
• 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.