NASCAR Sends Trees to Westfield Sports Park
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowGrand Park Sports Campus in Westfield is receiving nearly 100 trees as part of a NASCAR program designed to offset carbon emissions from races. The 400-acre complex is scheduled to open in the spring.
November 18, 2013
News Release
Westfield, Ind. — Grand Park Sports Campus has been selected to receive 90 trees on behalf of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as part of the NASCAR Green Clean Air Tree Planting Program Delivered by UPS, a collaborative initiative with the Arbor Day Foundation.
The NASCAR Green Clean Air Tree Planting Program was created by NASCAR in 2008. Its original goal was to plant 10 trees for every green flag dropped during a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, offsetting the carbon emissions of on-track racing occurring at those events. During that time more than 6,000 trees were planted. The program joined with UPS in 2013 and has grown to involve more than 20 local tree planting events, with more than 8,000 trees planted throughout the year.
NASCAR Green works closely with its affiliated motor speedways to select a local recipient for the program’s trees. Grand Park Sports Campus was chosen by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway due to its focus on youth sports, which aligned well with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s youth initiatives.
“We're happy to align with Grand Park in order to further our mission of moving youth forward,” said Mike Kirks, manager of marketing promotions at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “It's very satisfying to see this program continue to grow and help our community.”
About the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has been recognized as the Racing Capital of the World since it opened in 1909 with a 2.5-mile oval track, which has played host to the Indianapolis 500 since 1911.
IMS hosts four world-class racing events annually – the Indianapolis 500 and Grand Prix of Indianapolis for the IndyCar Series, the Kroger Super Weekend at the Brickyard for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series and the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship and Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge, and the Red Bull Indianapolis GP for the MotoGP World Championship. The Speedway is the only track in the world that plays host to all of these series every year.
The Speedway is the world’s largest spectator-sporting facility, with more than 250,000 permanent seats. The entire facility spans more than 1,100 acres and includes the historic, 2.5-mile oval, an infield road course with Grand Prix and MotoGP configurations and a championship-caliber 18-hole golf course that includes four holes in the infield of the oval.
IMS received the nickname “The Brickyard” after its original crushed stone-and-tar surface was repaved with 3.2 million bricks for safety reasons in fall 1909. Since then, the Speedway has been the site of countless innovations in automotive technology and motorsports safety ranging from mandatory crash helmet use to the revolutionary SAFER Barrier.
For more information about IMS, please visit www.ims.com.
About NASCAR Green
NASCAR created the NASCAR Green Clean Air Tree Planting Program in 2008. They planted 10 trees for every green flag dropped during a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, offsetting the carbon emissions of on-track racing occurring at those events. During that time over 6,000 trees were planted. However in 2013 an opportunity arose to grow this program exponentially with a highly established organization in sustainability and a large focus on trees was suggested. Going into the 2013 season, UPS was focused on its own corporate tree planting initiative and an opportunity to connect these two programs was identified. The development of the NASCAR Green Clean Air Tree Planting Program Delivered by UPS was born. In collaboration with Arbor Day Foundation (ADF), UPS and NASCAR Green continue to work towards building out a shared program that involves more than 20 local tree planting events, with over 8,000 trees being planted throughout the year.
About Grand Park Sports Campus
Opening spring 2014, Grand Park in Westfield, Indiana, is a destination like no other. The thoughtfully designed 400-acre Grand Park Sports Campus features 26 baseball and softball diamonds, 31 multipurpose fields for soccer, football, rugby, field hockey and lacrosse as well as two indoor facilities to accommodate year-round play for a variety of sports. It also features an abundance of green space and more than 10 miles of pedestrian/bicycle trails, including the largest trailhead on the Monon Corridor.
More than 1.5 million sports visitors are expected to participate in or attend tournaments and events at the Grand Park Sports Campus on an annual basis making the surrounding area a prime location for economic development. The master plan outlines approximately 1,400 acres of land available for residential and commercial development including hospitality (hotel, restaurant and retail), mixed-use, life science and corporate office uses.
Grand Park is bound by State Road 32 on the south, 196th Street to the north, Spring Mill Road on the west and United States Highway 31 to the east.
Visit GrandPark.org for more information.
Source: City of Westfield