NASCAR Cup Series

Waltrip Brothers' Charity Championship breaks record

Published Oct. 29, 2014 10:36 a.m. ET

foxsports

A host of sports and entertainment stars, a rare collection of 31 footballs autographed by every Super Bowl-winning quarterback in history and a spirited, impromptu emcee performance by NFL on FOX's Terry Bradshaw helped lift the Fifth Annual Waltrip Brothers' Charity Championship to a record-breaking year last week.

With more celebrities and sports figures in attendance than ever before, Wednesday and Thursday's Champion's Dinner and golf tournament posted the third-consecutive year of record-breaking fundraising, bringing in $450,000 for Motor Racing Outreach (MRO), Feed the Children and Tucker's House. This year's donation mark eclipses last year's record amount by $70,000. In five years, the two-day event founded by brothers Darrell and Michael Waltrip has raised $1,450,000 for charity.

Wynonna and the Big Noise headlined Wednesday's Champion's Dinner presented by Hendrickcars.com at The Factory in Franklin, Tenn., with performances by American Idol winner Caleb Johnson and finalist Ben Briley. Also appearing were a total of five past American Idol winners and finalists; Gold Medal Olympic swimmers Ryan Lochte and Tyler Clary; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers Clint Bowyer and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.; two-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Todd Bodine; NASCAR on FOX's Hermie Sadler; Miss Sprint Cup Madison Martin; David Hill, chairman, National Geographic Channels and executive producer, American Idol; Rick Hendrick; Marcus Smith; NASCAR president Mike Helton; and George Shinn. More than 400 people attended the dinner, co-hosted by NASCAR on FOX's Jeff Hammond and MRO president Billy Mauldin, which included a live and silent auction featuring autographed memorabilia from the entertainment, music and sports worlds.

"A week later, Michael and I still are overwhelmed by the success of this year's Waltrip Brothers' Charity Championship and the outpouring of generosity by everyone in attendance," Darrell Waltrip said. "The entire event was a ringing success from start to finish, and we have our friends to thank. A great time was had by all and we hope to see all the same faces, and even more, next year."

Focus now shifts to the 2015 Waltrip Brothers' Charity Championship, set for Oct. 21-22 at The Factory and the Vanderbilt Legends Club in Franklin, and supporting MRO, Feed the Children and other charities to be named at a later date. Bradshaw is scheduled to emcee Wednesday's Champion Dinner for the second year in 2015.

For further information, please visit waltripbrothers.com.