On Sunday, July 21, Chris Wagner, forward for the Boston Bruins, will trade the ice for asphalt to take on his new role as the official Toyota Camry pace car driver for the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Wagner will lead NASCAR's best to the green flag as 40 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers race down the frontstretch to start the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301.
"I'm very excited and honored to drive the pace car for the race on the 21st," said 28-year-old Massachusetts native Wagner. "It should be an awesome experience and I can't wait to get behind the wheel at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway."
Wagner will become the third Boston Bruin to fill this official role following in the footsteps of Bruins legend Brad Park in September 2014 and Tim Schaller in 2016. Noel Acciari, Frank Vatrano and Brandon Carlo also joined Schaller for his visit making Wagner the sixth Bruin to attend a NASCAR race at "The Magic Mile."
In his first season in Boston, Wagner notched career highs in goals (12), points (19) and plus/minus (+3) over 76 regular season games. The six-foot, 198-pound forward also led the Bruins with 247 hits.
"Wagner really showcased that hard-nosed, blue-collar New England vibe this past season," said David McGrath, executive vice president and general manager of NHMS. "Many of our race fans are huge hockey fans as well, so I'm sure they'll get a thrill of seeing a hometown hero behind the wheel on "The Magic Mile" as he leads the drivers to the green flag to start the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301."
Wagner scored two goals in the 2019 Eastern Conference Final series win over the Carolina Hurricanes. He was injured blocking a shot at the end of Game 3 of that series to help preserve the 2-1 win.
Wagner is joining a strong lineup of New England athletes who have served as the official Toyota Camry pace car driver for NASCAR Cup Series races including Patriots safety Patrick Chung (July 2018), Patriots offensive tackle Matt Light (Sept. 2016), Bruins forward Tim Schaller (July 2016), Patriots linebacker Rob Ninkovich (July 2015), Bruins legend Brad Park (Sept. 2014) and Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman (July 2014). Other notables include Richard Rawlings of Discovery Channel's "Fast N' Loud" (Sept. 2017), Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels (July 2017), Dave Matthews Band bassist Stefan Lessard (July 2016) and Olympic triathlete Sarah True (Sept. 2015).
For ticket information for all 2019 events at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, including the July 19 Friday Night Dirt Duels presented by New England Racing Fuel, the July 19-21 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 race weekend and the September 20-21 Full Throttle Fall Weekend, visit the speedway website at NHMS.com or call Fan Relations at (603) 783-4931.
