BRISTOL -- For the first time in a dozen years, race fans have the opportunity to walk up and buy a Food City 500 ticket for the spring race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Because of the downturn in the economy, many season ticket holders at Bristol did not renew this year. That left the track where tickets are normally hard to come by with work to do if it hopes for a 54th consecutive sellout.

As the second longest running sponsorship partnership in NASCAR, Bristol and Food City are teaming up to sell the leftover tickets to Food City customers at its stores.

The Food City 500 Fan Appreciation Tour caravan will be at Food City on the Snapps Ferry Road on Friday from 3 p.m. - 7 p.m.

"For the past 12 years, if you called Bristol Motor Speedway and said 'I want to buy Food City 500 tickets' we said we didn't break the tickets out of packages," said Jeff Byrd, Bristol Motor Speedway president. "You had to buy both Cup and both Nationwide. This is the first time we've done it."

When the ticket caravan makes its stops, not only will race tickets be on sale, but BMS representatives will be giving away many items, including Nationwide race tickets, track souvenirs and Food City gift cards.

Steven C. Smith, Food City president and CEO, said he had talked with Byrd in the past about selling race tickets at Food City locations, but there simply weren't any to by had.

"Jeff and I have talked for years about making tickets available to Food City customers, but in the past there have been so many season ticket holders," Smith said. "We've talked about it for a while but really weren't able to make it happen until now. Sometimes blessings come in strange ways. For folks that wanted a ticket, this is a chance to get one. We don't wish a bad a economy for any reason, but let's take something we've been dealt and make it an exciting opportunity."

Most race fans know the economy has been hard on all of NASCAR. Established race teams are closing their doors. Hundreds of people have lost their jobs. Races are without title sponsors. Tickets are going unsold across the board.

Byrd said with the tight dollar nationwide, Bristol wanted to give its fans more rather than cut back on what it offered.

"A lot of times in an economic downturn, companies choose to pull back what they're doing and just ride it out, but that's not our style," said Byrd. "Our approach is to go to the people and to offer them even more than we have before."

It wasn't clear exactly how many tickets are available, but there are nearly 30 stops planned for the "Bristol Race Ticket Express" all around the region.

"We are literally going to go to every single community were we have a Food City," Smith said. "We will have tickets available to our customers as long as they last."

Ticket sales at the track have been steady. Byrd said for the first time, BMS employees had to work through the holidays to meet the demand.

"Compared to everyone else, we're in really good shape," Byrd commented about ticket sales at Bristol and other NASCAR venues. "We are in better shape than any other track, with a higher percentage of seats already sold."

That doesn't mean there aren't plenty still available. One of the best parts, said track vice president Kevin Triplett, is that fans who purchase the single race tickets for the March 22 Food City 500 will now be on the list to renew their seats next year.

"We have had people tell us they have given up trying to get tickets here," Triplett said. "What we are telling them is for the first time in a long, long time you are going to have that opportunity."