Travis Kvapil

NEW YORK, N.Y. & HICKORY, N.C. -- 2006 Emmy Award-winner Kim Zimmer and the CBS soap Guiding Light hit the track today with NASCAR driver Travis Kvapil and the Tide® Racing Team when the show taped on location at the Hickory Motor Speedway in Hickory, N.C. The soap also plans to tape tomorrow at the team’s race shop which is also located in Hickory.

The storyline revolves around Zimmer’s character, the strong-willed Reva Shayne Lewis and her battle with breast cancer. Thanks to the encouragement from her doctor Colin McCabe (played by Paul Fitzgerald) and Kvapil, Reva gets the chance to take the wheel of the infamous Tide Ride in an attempt to prove that her diagnosis will not stop her from living out her dreams. The scenes shot at the Speedway and the race shop will air on Wednesday, June 28.

Zimmer and several of her cast mates first met the Tide Racing Team last September at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway. Everyone had such a great experience that the idea of working the race team into a storyline was proposed. Several months later, the project came to fruition when Zimmer’s character was diagnosed with breast cancer. In the story, Reva remembers a list she made as a young girl that contained 10 items she wanted to do before she died. Driving a race car was one of them.

“I’ve never done anything like this,” said Kvapil, who took Zimmer for a high-speed ride around the track to experience the thrill of NASCAR. “I was given a script with lines to memorize and when it was time to roll tape, Paul and Kim really went out of their way to put me at ease. We got through all of the takes without any major hiccups. It was awesome. Kim really seemed to enjoy herself and Paul wants to come to a race so I think everyone at Guiding Light is hooked on NASCAR. I am sure hooked on them. I can’t wait to watch the episode.”

Kim Zimmer created the unforgettable character of Reva Shayne on Guiding Light in 1983. A four-time Emmy winner, Zimmer won the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in April 2006. A native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Zimmer and her husband currently live in New Jersey and have three children.