{"id":120111,"date":"2019-07-10T08:04:02","date_gmt":"2019-07-10T13:04:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=120111"},"modified":"2019-07-10T08:19:38","modified_gmt":"2019-07-10T13:19:38","slug":"waltmire-to-sing-for-fridays-nascar-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2019\/07\/10\/waltmire-to-sing-for-fridays-nascar-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Waltmire to sing for Friday’s NASCAR race"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent sports editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2017 Crestview High School graduate and current Bowling Green State University education major Griffen Waltmire will take center stage before Friday night\u2019s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Kentucky Speedway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After setting the wheels in motion earlier this year, Waltmire, the son of Ron and Tina Waltmire of Convoy, is scheduled to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” before the Alsco 300.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Griffen Waltmire will sing The National Anthem before Friday’s NASCAR Xfinity race in Kentucky. <\/strong>photo provided<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn early 2019, I reached out to the only email I could find on the Kentucky Speedway website and asked them to direct me to someone who could make this happen,\u201d Waltmire explained. \u201cWeeks later, I received an email from the track administrator who asked me to send in a minute and a half rendition, so I sent them a clip of me singing at a BGSU hockey game that I believed showcased my best ability and shortly after, they offered me a spot to sing at the Xfinity Race this summer. I couldn\u2019t pass up the offer.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It won\u2019t be the first time Waltmire, 21, a lifelong NASCAR fan, has performed at a pro sporting event. He previously performed before 6,500 fans at a Fort Wayne Tin Caps game. That prior experience will come in handy, because he won\u2019t be able to rehearse at the 69,900 seat venue in Sparta, Kentucky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe only rehearsal time that I get is on my own and a little sound check before I go out in front of everybody,\u201d Waltmire explained. \u201cI was told everything will be under control when I get to the stage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am only concerned about the way they\u2019re going to produce this,\u201d Waltmire continued. \u201cTechnology is always something to worry about and I have no idea what microphone or sound system is like and I am hoping I can cope and adjust to that pretty easily. Nerves will come when I get there, but I\u2019m pretty tough when it comes to stage fright.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Waltmire went on to explain that he\u2019s ready to embrace what many would consider to be the opportunity of a lifetime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am very excited to learn and expand my experiences by doing this,\u201d Waltmire said. \u201cI am also very privileged to honor all of the veterans and the active military women and men. Even if I don\u2019t get to speak to each service member in my rendition on Friday night, I hope that I can at least send message of support and care to the whole community that I am proud to be an American and that I am thankful for their sacrifice to this country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOverall, I am thrilled and ready for Friday to come. I feel like everything as lead me to this point and I can\u2019t wait to see what\u2019s on the other side after it\u2019s over. It is my job to represent Van Wert, Willshire, and Wood County – the places that have brought me to this time in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coverage of Friday night\u2019s Alsco 300 will begin at 7 p.m. on NBC Sports Network, which can be found on channel 159 on DISH Network, channel 220 on DirecTV, and channel 323 on Spectrum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent sports editor 2017 Crestview High School graduate and current Bowling Green State University education major Griffen Waltmire will take center stage before Friday night\u2019s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Kentucky Speedway. After setting the wheels in motion earlier this year, Waltmire, the son of Ron and Tina Waltmire of Convoy, is scheduled to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-03 00:49:37","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120111\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}