As a follow-up to the Collision Repair Education Foundation’s 2014 inaugural Cars, Careers, & Celebrities event, which raised over $200,000 for the organization, the 2015 event will be held on Friday, September 18th at the Chicagoland Speedway (Joliet, Ill.) in conjunction with the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup taking place that weekend. The event will bring together hundreds of high school and college collision students, industry members and sponsors. High school and college collision students from Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas and Michigan are anticipated to participate in this event, and that list is expected to grow by the event date. ABRA Auto Body & Glass will participate as the first Diamond Level sponsor, and the Collision Repair Education Foundation encourages all industry members to participate to not only showcase the various members of the industry to the attending students but also help raise additional funds to assist collision school programs.

This event will be available at no charge for high school and college collision students, instructors and administrators. However, the Collision Repair Education Foundation is requesting a $100 donation per individual industry member to attend, which will include a trade show, grandstand admission to Friday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, Fan Zone Pit Pass, food/beverages, raffles and VIP access opportunities for select attendees.

“We are excited to be working with Chicagoland Speedway on this event and that is meant to raise the level of industry awareness to area collision school students and help connect them to industry employers,” said Collision Repair Education Foundation Director of Development Brandon Eckenrode. “We plan on having industry vendors, NASCAR guest speakers and much more. As there will be industry vendors and racing celebrities in attendance, we ask that industry members interested in attending save the date, and we look forward to seeing the inter-industry this September. Special thanks and recognition to ABRA Auto Body & Glass for being our first Diamond Level sponsor. As this event will bring together hundreds of high school and college collision students, we ask that other industry companies looking to engage with the future professionals of the industry reach out to us and participate.”

Added Chicagoland Speedway President Scott Paddock, “The Cars, Careers & Celebrities event is a terrific initiative from the Collision Repair Education Foundation, and it is one we are extremely proud to support. Educational opportunities extending outside the classroom are often some of the most valuable, and the experience that our event weekend will provide in the development of students and young professionals from across the Midwest serves as the perfect precursor to one of the premier weekends on the NASCAR schedule.”