Infineon and Fior d’Italia — What a team!
The restaurant’s Elif Arslan and her friend Jagermeister
This year, as in the past few, we have had a chance to work with Infineon Raceways to promote some of their events and help them raise money for some good causes like the “Eric Medlen Nitro Night at the Fior Charity Dinner” hosted by the Fior d’Italia early in August.
The event attracted 150 people, including several NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series drivers, as $15,690 was generated for Speedway Children’s Charities, the charitable arm of Infineon Raceway. The gala was held in honor of the late Eric Medlen, an Oakdale native who succumbed in March to injuries sustained from an accident during a test session in Gainesville (Fla.). He was 33. “This was a great night and I think the people who came had a great time,” Scelzi said. “We got to raise a lot of money for the charity and we also got to honor Eric’s memory.”
The event featured NHRA Funny Car drivers Jack Beckman (Jagermeister), Ron Capps (Brut Racing Dodge), Ashley Force (Castrol/Auto Club Mustang), Robert Hight (Auto Club Mustang) and Gary Scelzi (Mopar/Oakley Dodge) and Top Fuel driver Cory McClenathan (FRAM Dragster). Long-time NHRA announcer Bob Frey hosted the gala.
Subsequently, Infineon Raceway teamed with us for a $1,000,000 promotion in conjunction with the Motorola Indy 300 race weekend, Aug. 24-26. The first 40,000 race fans that came through the gates on Sunday, Aug. 26, received a $25 gift certificate to the Fior from Infineon.
At the press conference for the event Gianni Audieri, the executive chef at the Fior d’Italia, worked with driver Tony Kanaan to prepare lunch for the attendees. Gianni said Tony was a natural and everyone enjoyed their meal they prepared.
