Race Day Party

About 2 Weeks Ahead

• Make ice ring for Pit Stop Punch.

Up to 1 Week Ahead

• Make Beer-Cheese Triangles (not the sauce), following directions for freezing.

1 Day Before

• Marinate Engine-Revving Chicken Wings; refrigerate.
• Make Zesty Cheese Sauce for Beer-Cheese Triangles; cover and refrigerate.
• Wash and cut up vegetable sticks (if not purchased cut up).  Refrigerate separately in resealable plastic food-storage bags.
• Make Championship Peanut Butter Brownies.

The Morning Of

• Make Pit Stop Punch; refrigerate.
• Cut up fresh fruit (if not purchased cut up); cover and refrigerate.
• Place blue cheese dressing for chicken wings in serving dish; cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

About 1 Hour Before Serving

• Bake chicken wings.

About 45 Minutes Before Serving

• Make Fast-Lane Chicken and Potato Chowder.

About 15 Minutes Before Serving

• Bake frozen Beer-Cheese Triangles.
• Heat Zesty Cheese Sauce.

Start your engines for a revved-up race-day party! Family and friends can enjoy the race while gathered around a large-screen television and fueling up with championship food. Find great party tips and a prep guide that will keep last-minute kitchen-racing to a minimum! Vroom vroom!

Grandstand Ideas for Pumped-Up Decorations

• Use black-and-white checked fabric (found at a fabric store) as a tablecloth.  Add splashes of color with bright red, orange or yellow plastic plates and cups.
• Look for race-car napkins at a party store, or alternate black and white napkins on the table.  Wrap white plastic silverware in black napkins and black plastic silverware in white napkins.  Tie with string or rafia, and place in a basket on the buffet table.
• Check with your local grocery or auto store for racing promotional decorations, such as strings of checkered flags, posters, signs or doormats that you can use to decorate inside or outside your home.
• Bring out that collection of miniature toy race cars to place on the buffet table.  Set up a toy track, and surround it with the food.
• Make a racing ice ring for Pit Stop Punch.  Start by filling a ring mold with about 1/2 inch of lemonade; freeze.  Wash and dry four or five miniature toy race cars; place with wheels facing up on frozen lemonade.  Pour in another 1/4 to 1/2 inch of lemonade; freeze.  Pour in enough additional lemonade to fill ring; freeze.
• Set up tables as pit stops for beverages, desserts, etc.
• Place white and black helium-filled balloons inside and outside the house.  To add even more color, hang streamers in your favorite drivers’ colors, and post red, green, yellow and checkered flags.

Trophy-Winning Fun and Games

• As guests arrive, invite them to predict:

                        What lap will the first lead change take place?
                        When will the first caution flag come out?
                        Who will be in the lead at the halfway point?
                        Who will win the race?

• Tie the racing theme to the prizes for the games.  Prizes could be gift certificates for gasoline or a car wash, a gas can, road map, quart of oil or toy car.