Katelyn Sweet, the girlfriend of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Larson, won the sixth annual Better Half Dash presented by Nature Made on Thursday at Charlotte Motor Speedway during Bojangles' Pole Night. Finishing second was Brad Keselowski's girlfriend Paige White with Ty Dillon's wife Haley Dillon third after coming from the back of the pack twice. Rounding out the top five were Anna McAllister in fourth and Kinsley Parsons in fifth.
Sweet, who started from the pole, took the lead for the final time on lap 20 of the 25-lap race for charity. Motor Racing Network announced that more than $70,000 was raised for charities.
"This was so much fun. We had a great time and raised a lot of money," Sweet said. "We did this for BC (the late Bryan Clauson). He was here last year and his fiancée was here today. It means so much to me that we can support breast cancer awareness and give back to them for helping me out on my car. This is just awesome."
"I had a lot of superstar power behind me the past couple of weeks," said White, whose boyfriend, Brad Keselowski, won the 2013 Bank of America 500 and helped with her driving in practice. "We are still proud to have second place. It was really exciting. I was excited to be in the car and kind of keep it in the family. Everybody wants to race for trophies like this but more important was raising money for charity."
"I was just trying to salvage a good finish," Dillon said. "I probably passed more cars than anybody on the track. I was glad to get back up there and compete with them. It was so fun."
Rounding out the field in sixth through 10th were Wendy Venturini, Tati Papis, Candice Smith, Jessica Nichols and Julie Mauldin. Sweet got a check for $10,000, of which $2,500 went to MRO, $2,500 to Speedway Children's Charities and $5,000 to her charities of choice - the National Breast Cancer Foundation and Autism Awareness.
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