This Saturday, we are hosting our first ever hockey tournament at the Michael & Son Sportsplex in Rockville. The funds raised from the game will benefit the Russian Machine Never Brakes campaign to get Caps fan Ryan Ellis into the Dover Xfinity race on October 1. We already announced that the two champions of each league (recreational and advanced) will have the opportunity to raise the GR8 Missing Tooth Trophy (that Nathan spent like three weeks making).
Tonight we have some even more exciting news to share. National pizza chain Papa John’s has graciously agreed to donate one free large pizza coupon to every person who plays in our tournament. For those keeping track at home, that’s 88 free pizzas. And that’s perfect for the Papa John’s brand. Last season, Papa John’s teamed up with the Great Eight himself, Alex Ovechkin, and donated money to charity for every $8 pizza that was bought.
So now Saturday is not only a hockey party, but it’s a pizza party as well.
We still have FOUR openings left for the tournament. If you’d like to join us, you can purchase your ticket here. Our fundraiser ends Thursday so basically, sign up RIGHT now or you’re going to miss out.
Related: Here’s a mesmerizing GIF of a pizza.
Last week, our fundraiser for Ryan made national news in NASCAR circles.
FOX Sports picked up the story:
In an unconventional approach, XFINITY driver Ryan Ellis has teamed up with hockey blog, Russian Machine Never Breaks, to offer the chance for fans to get their name on the car as a sponsor.
Ellis started an IndieGoGo fundraising page to gain funds to enter the Drive Sober 200 XFINITY Series race at Dover International Speedway in October and has raised around $2,000 of his $8,888.00 goal. The use of the eight is an ode to Washington Capitals’ forward Alex Ovechkin, the team which Russian Machine Never Breaks covers.
The webpage offers different options for how prominent the sponsorship of the name will be, and if you’d like to spend $5,000 then you can cover the rear deck-lid and trunk with your company logo.
Ellis has started 11 XFINITY races this season and placed in the top-20 twice. He’s also made four career starts in the Sprint Cup Series.
So far, we’ve raised approximately $6,900 online. Ryan was also written a $1,000 check as a private donation. That means we’re only about $900 short of our goal at the current moment. That’s a lot, but we can do this together.
To help us get over the hump, please consider donating $20 to our fundraiser, which will get your name boldly printed on Ryan’s car for the race. Our blog will be his main sponsor and our logo will be on the hood. We also have a $50 t-shirt/signed postcard/name-on-the-car package available.
If you’re a small business and would like to get your logo on Ryan’s car, packages start as low as $500. We’re also willing to print art or any other kind of tribute, as long as it’s not too weird.
This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and we’d really appreciate the help to give Ryan another fun day at the track.
