In an effort to promote adult education in the mountain border region between Virginia and Tennessee, where nearly 32 percent of adults do not have a high school diploma, education officials from both states are offering auto racing tickets to those adults who earn high school equivalency diplomas, according to an article printed in the Washington Post Saturday.
Adults who pass the General Educational Development Test in 2004 will be rewarded with a ticket package to attend either Busch or Craftsman Truck series racing at the Bristol Motor Speedway in the spring or fall or a drag race at Bristol Dragway.
Education officials announced the "Race to GED" program in a luxury suite overlooking the speedway, which will provide the program with ticket prizes valued at over $300,000.
Eligible participants include adult education students in Bristol, Galax, Norton, Bland, Buchanan, Dickenson, Grayson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington, Wise and Wythe counties in Virginia and Sullivan County in Tennessee.