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ABINGDON, VA (Monday, March 27, 2023) – Food City is gearing up for the April 9th running of the Food City Dirt Race, the only dirt race in NASCAR.

The race gets under way at 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 9 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Food City officials announced that Rear Admiral Stephen “Josh” Jackson will serve as the event Grand Marshal and deliver the starting command for Sunday night’s clash.

“I am honored, on behalf of the men and women of the United States Navy, to be named the Grand Marshal for the Food City Dirt Race,” Jackson said.

“As someone who has spent his entire career among high performing organizations in the military, I’m excited to see these race teams in action up close and personal, and it is even more special because I’ll be joined by my brothers and sisters in uniform for this experience. We are very grateful to Food City, Bristol Motor Speedway, and NASCAR for this incredible opportunity, and are looking forward to race weekend,” he said.

A native of Syracuse, New York, Rear Admiral Jackson graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1993 and holds a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College. Rear Admiral Jackson has spent the majority of his 30-year career as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) officer, and currently serves as the Deputy Director of the Operations and Integration Directorate at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. In addition to his role as the Deputy Director, Rear Admiral Jackson is one of two Admirals who lead the Navy EOD community. He oversees the development and community health of over 1,500 EOD officers and technicians that deploy worldwide.

His command assignments include commanding officer of EOD Mobile Unit 2 (EODMU 2), where he deployed his unit to Iraq as a Battalion-equivalent Joint Task Force, leading counAter-improvised explosive device operations in direct support of U.S. Division North (TF MARNE); commander, EOD Group 2, where he manned, trained, and equipped east coast EOD and mobile diving and salvage forces in support of combatant commanders worldwide; and commander, Task Force 56, headquartered in Bahrain, where he employed navy expeditionary combat forces in support of U.S. 5th Fleet. He has completed six shipboard deployments across the globe and four combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Rear Admiral Jackson is the recipient of various personal and campaign awards including the Bronze Star Medal (two awards) and Combat Action Ribbon. in NASCAR.