The sixth-annual Prelude to the Dream, assembled each year by NASCAR driver Tony Stewart, features a new format involving the 25-plus world class drivers who will participate in the popular fund-raising event on Wednesday, June 9, 2010 at the famed Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.

With the new format, the 2010 Prelude to the Dream will have a race within a race as the field will be split into four teams, and each team will be competing for a specific charity. Since it's inception in 2005, proceeds generated from the Prelude to the Dream event through HBO Pay-Per-View are donated to charities with this years recipients being four of the top children's hospitals in America.

Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, Indiana, Cincinnati Children’s, Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee are the designated charities for the 2010 Prelude to the Dream.

"We wanted to shake things up a little bit this year,” said Stewart, a three-time winner of the Dream. “The team concept adds another level of excitement because there’s now a race within the race. As individual drivers, we all want the big trophy at the end of the night. But it’s cool knowing that battles for fourth and fifth and even 11th and 12th will make a big difference for what children’s hospital ends up with the big check.”

Headlining the 2010 Prelude to the Dream are the Gillette Young Guns: Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards and Joey Logano, who will join Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth in driving 2,300-pound, 800 horsepower Late Model Stock Cars on the high-banked dirt oval.

The following teams will comprise the starting field for the 2010 Prelude to the Dream:

· Team Riley: Bowyer (captain), Ryan Newman, J. Gordon, Brian Vickers, A.J. Allmendinger, Kenny Wallace and Ron Capps.

· Team Cincinnati: Kahne (captain), Logano, Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Bill Elliott and Cruz Pedregon.

· Team Levine: Busch (captain), Johnson, Kenseth, David Reutimann, Dave Blaney and Marcos Ambrose.

· Team St. Jude: Hamlin (captain), Edwards, Robby Gordon, Ken Schrader, Aric Almirola, Ricky Carmichael and Ray Evernham.

Hardcore Race Fans can catch the 2010 Prelude to the Dream live and commercial free beginning at 7 p.m. EDT. Visit www.PreludeToTheDream.org or www.HBO.com for ordering information.

“We plan to raise a lot of money for all of these hospitals, no matter where their teams finish," said Stewart. "Since HBO Pay-Per-View began televising the Prelude in 2007, we’ve been able to help a lot of deserving charities, and helping children has always been a part of that mission. With this format, we feel we can raise more money than ever before. We’ve always set a goal to raise $1 million. We haven’t been able to reach that goal yet, but with this year’s Prelude where we have a race within a race, I think we have our best shot yet to reach that magic number.”

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