"Dancing With The Stars" Favorite Cheryl Burke Named Honorary Starter For Camping World RV Service 300 Presented By Coleman

Two-time Dancing With The Stars champion and professional ballroom dancer Cheryl Burke will serve as Honorary Starter  for the Camping World RV Service 300 Presented by Coleman on August 30  at Auto Club Speedway, President Gillian Zucker announced today. 

 "Cheryl Burke is a two-time winner of Dancing with the Stars, so she will definitely show us some championship moves when she waves the Green Flag at the Camping World RV Service 300," said Auto Club Speedway president Gillian Zucker. "While she brings a different kind of fancy footwork to the track than our NASCAR stars, she's no less popular with the fans and we're delighted to have the chance to welcome her to the NASCAR nation."

Burke is the only professional dancer to appear in the Dancing With The Stars finals three times. She was champion twice, first with singer Drew Lachey in Season 2, and then with football legend Emmitt Smith in Season 3.  A  San Francisco native, Burke began dancing at the age of four, taking ballet lessons and performing throughout the Bay Area.  At 10, she discovered what would be her winning talent, ballroom dancing, and began training in both Standard and Latin ballroom dancing.  By the age of 13, Cheryl was traveling and competing throughout the world, later winning several championships, including 2005 Ohio Star Ball Rising Star Champion, 2005 San Francisco Open Latin Champion, 2005 World Cup Professional Rising Star Latin Champion, several United Kingdom Championships, and a fourth place showing in the U.S. "Under 21’s" division.

Burke opened her first dance studio, the highly successful Cheryl Burke Dance, in San Francisco earlier this year and has plans to open another studio in the fall.

About Auto Club Speedway

Don’t miss out on Labor Day’s biggest party, the Pepsi 500 on Sunday, August 31, 2008.   See the biggest stars of NASCAR including Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, and Juan Pablo Montoya as they reach speeds of more than 200 miles per hour.  NASCAR racing is a full day of excitement and entertainment that includes sponsor displays, live musical entertainment, great food and fun for the whole family. Enjoy the Speedway’s fan amenities, including new escalators, shade structures and misting zones, souvenir shopping and Apex by Wolfgang Puck. To purchase tickets for the Pepsi 500 weekend call 800-944-RACE, or visit www.autoclubspeedway.com for more information.