"Turtleman" Coming To Kentucky

Star of Animal Planet's hit series Call of the Wildman and Washington County Kentucky native, Ernie Brown Jr., best known as "Turtleman," will take time out from plunging into muddy ponds searching for snapping turtles to visit Kentucky Speedway for its June 27-29 Quaker State 400 presented by Advance Auto Parts NASCAR tripleheader weekend.

Turtleman will participate in the Kentucky Speedway Chapter of Speedway Children's Charities Pulling for Kids Clay Shoot June 27 at Dave Kelley's Elk Creek Hunt Club in Owenton, Ky., and greet speedway season ticket holders during their June 29 Quaker State 400 presented by Advance Auto Parts prerace infield party before visiting the venue's Fan Zone at 4:30 p.m.

Brown Jr., has been exploring the backwoods of Kentucky and learning about wildlife since childhood. He employs the dangerous bare-handed technique he learned from his father and uncle to capture snapping turtles. Turtleman first corralled a 25-pound snapping turtle at age seven. Ten years later he seized his largest catch, the Loch Ness Turtle, a monstrous creature weighing an estimated 55 pounds. Turtleman estimates he's wrestled more than 12,000 turtles at an average of 300 annually while only being injured 34 times.

"People think I'm crazy, but they can't help but like me," Turtleman said.

The outdoorsman, known for his "live action" catchphrase, held an assortment of jobs through his lifetime such as cutting boards for whiskey barrels, milking cows and working construction before dedicating his life to rescuing and preserving wildlife.

Viewers can see the exploits of Turtleman and Team Turtle, made up of his canine companion, Lolly Dog, along with his right-hand man Neal James, during all-new episodes of Call of the Wildman airing weekly on Animal Planet.

The Quaker State 400 presented by Advance Auto Parts includes a race-day concert with platinum-selling country music artist Billy Currington presented by Kroger and anchors a NASCAR tripleheader weekend at the speedway. Racing begins Thursday, June 27 with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series UNOH 225 and continues Friday, June 28 with the NASCAR Nationwide Series  Feed The Children 300.