Drivers go under the hammer for charity.

As NASCAR rolls into Las Vegas, more than a dozen drivers will put themselves up for auction for the benefit of Speedway Children's Charity.

The Las Vegas arm of the Speedway charity will host its annual driver auction on the Thursday of race week inside Sam's Town Hotel & Gambling Hall where members of the public can bid for the opportunity to ride around the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway with their driver during the pre-race parade laps.

Scott Wimmer, Kyle Petty, David Green, Stacy Compton, Clint Bowyer, Jon Wood, Ashton Lewis, Jason Keller, Randy LaJoie, Aaron Fike, Shane Hmiel, Brent Sherman, Ryan Hemphill and Kim Crosby are among the drivers who have so far confirmed their presence, with more expected to join the list as the day draws near.

Although the auction is not an autograph session, hometown hero Brendan Gaughan will sign autographs inside Sam's Town Live! from 5-6 p.m. to help raise funds for the children of Las Vegas.

NFL Hall of Fame quarterback and NASCAR team co-owner Jim Kelly also will make an appearance. Kelly co-owns Randy LaJoie's #34 NASCAR Busch Series Polaroid Batteries Chevrolet with Frank Cicci.

This year's NASCAR Driver Auction offers added value to bidders in two ways. Last year, Cup drivers were driven around the track in a convertible sports car during driver introduction. The winning bidder sat in the front seat while his favourite driver sat in the back.

This year, drivers competing in the March 13th UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 Nextel Cup race will ride around the track in pairs in the back of new Dodge pick-up trucks, and their winning bidders will ride along in the back of the trucks with them.

Added value for bidders on Busch Series drivers competing in the Sam's Town 300 on March 12th comes in the fact that, for the first time in the history of the event, drivers will ride around the track in pairs in the same trucks and their winning bidders will ride along with them. In the past, winning bidders on Busch Series drivers were entitled only to a pre-race "meet 'n' greet," since there were no parade laps for Busch Series races due to network television time constraints.

The event also features a silent auction with a variety of racing and non-racing items to bid on, including autographed team uniforms, race car sheet metal, autographed MLB baseballs, NBA collectibles and tickets to various shows in and around Las Vegas.

Last year, 19 NASCAR drivers participated in the auction and more than $213,000 was raised for the children of Las Vegas and southern Nevada.

Last December, The Las Vegas Chapter of Speedway Children's Charities granted $275,000 to 51 local children's causes during its annual grant distribution ceremony.