'I Love NASCAR', what is behind this crazed movement?
For those who don't understand NASCAR's unprescedented explosion in popularity, they would ask.What is the big deal about NASCAR?...
Well...you have to love fast cars...and who doesn't love fast cars? Once you have become infected with the fast-car bug, you have to see a race, and not just on television. Attending a NASCAR race is a total-body sports' fan experience. Engines roaring! Cars zooming! Adrenaline pumping! There is a huge thrill in trying to pick out your favorite driver as the field of cars zoom past your range of sight at 180mph!
NASCAR racing is also more than just fast cars going around in circles. It is about common folk, getting together as friends and family, and sharing exciting memories.every weekend! ...And that is why racing fans all say "I love NASCAR!"
And then there is the NASCAR drivers, the most fan-friendly sports stars of any sport!... They take take time out of every race, every weekend to talk to fans, sign autographs and take pictures. The drivers all come to the races with their families in tow, and camp out in trailers.just like the commoners... And that is also why racing fans all say 'I love NASCAR!'
On the track, drivers have 2 goals..win points and win the race. Like the skillful warriors they are, they defend their positions and play every advantage that presents itself. NASCAR drivers' ability to use the draft from cars in front of him to gain more speed takes great skill and feeling. In races where it is difficult to pass, drivers will attempt to cause the car in front of him to "get loose" by positioning himself so close to that car that he "steals the air", causing that car to wobble and allowing him to pass. These kinds of skills are almost beyond comprehension!
In the pit area, crews are constantly working and moving, preparing for the next pit stop. During each pit stop every person has his place and job to do. If they work together well, their performance will have serviced the car, filled the tank with gas and changed tires in 14 remarkable seconds or less. The crew chief and technicians determine precise calculations throughout the race to determine if fuel mileage will be a factor in winning... This is why racing fans all say 'I love NASCAR!'
The NASCAR recipe is one that no other spectator sport matches. Weekly, the top teams (drivers) are competing directly against each other. Unlike, for instance the NBA, where you may have to wait weeks for that big contest, at a NASCAR race, you can follow number 1 battling number 2 every week. It's almost like having the Championship of this sport each and every week.
There's simply nothing like the excitement of a live NASCAR race. The sights, earth shattering sounds and gritty smell of burned rubber and gasoline will leave a strong and lasting impression on even the most casual sports fan. and for most saying 'I love NASCAR!'
Bill France Sr. was born in Washington, D.C. and lived there until his early 20s. His father was a teller at Park Savings Bank in Washington, and his son might have followed in his footsteps with the exception that he had a fascination with the automobile and how it performed. As a teenager, Bill Sr. would often skip school and take the family car to a nearby track and run laps until he had enough time to get the car, a Model-T Ford, back home before his father got home. He held several hands-on jobs until he eventually owned his own service station. He made a name for himself and built a customer base by getting up early in the wintry mornings and going out to crank the cars for white collar bureaucrats.
In 1934 the Frances loaded up their car and headed for the south with a total of $25. Where they were headed has never been clearly established but some say Tampa and others say Miami Beach. Two days later they arrived in Daytona Beach. Rumors say that they were broke and had to settle there while some say his wife had a sister in nearby New Smyrna Beach and still others say that their car broke down and they had no choice but to settle in and stay there. However years later Bill Jr. stated that his mother did not have a sister living in New Smyrna Beach and that a broken down car would never stop his father from getting where he wanted because he was an experienced mechanic.
The hard packed sand between Daytona Beach and its northern neighbor Ormond Beach was the site of the world-record automobile speed trials. They started in 1902 and picked up speed right up to the '30s. By then the speeds were approaching 300 miles per hour along the firm and smooth inviting sand. In the spring of 1935 Sir Malcolm Campbell was taking his Bluebird rocket car to Daytona Beach in hopes of running at 300 miles per hour for yet another land-speed-record. Along with this and the weather and the smaller hospitable and more affordable area maybe this is the reason behind the Frances staying in Daytona Beach.
Campbell never did get his record of 300 mph at Daytona, instead his best he could do was 276.82mph and on March 7, 1935 Campbell announced that he was moving the speed trials to Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. It was the
shifting winds and changing tides that made Campbell realize that he would not reach his goal of 300mph if he kept working out of Daytona Beach. Campbell did beat the 300mph speed at Bonneville in late 1935.
Daytona Beach area officials were determined to bring in speed-related events after Campbell left and this was how Bill France Sr. got his start in race promotions in late 1935. City officials asked championship dirt track racer and local resident Sig Haugdahl to organize and promote an automobile race along a 3.2 mile course which included Highway A1A southbound from Daytona Beach and the same beach that had been used for the land speed record runs. The 78-lap, 250 mile event for street-legal family sedans was sanctioned but the American Automobile Association for cars built
in 1935 and 1936. Daytona Beach posted a $5,000.00 purse, with $1,700.00 for the winner. The biggest problem was that people arrived there earlier than the ticket-takers and established their spots on the beach. The turns at each end very virtually impassable, leading to stuck and stalled cars which created scoring disputes and technical protests. Then
the race was called after 75 laps with Milt Marion declared the winner. France finished fifth behind Marion, Shaw, Elmore, and Sam Purvis. Ben Shaw and Tommy Elmore both protested the race but their appeals were squashed. That was the first and last race the City of Daytona Beach ever promoted. Well how would you feel if your City lost $22,000.00 from one race promotion?
Haugdahl and France had become very good friends and were not about to give up. Together they talked the Daytona Beach Elks Club into helping promote a race over Labor Day weekend of 1937. Despite a paltry $100.00 purse and improved management, promotion, and track conditions the Elks lost money too. They also like the city lost their interest in motor sports promotion. With that Haugdahl decided that he too had enough and he bowed out of the motor sport promoting as well. This left France all to himself to try and get the area interested since he could still see a future for stock car racing, however he was a struggling filling-station operator and didn't have enough cash to cover a purse, advertise and promote the race plus pay the city to set up the course.
France was finally able to convince local restaurateur Charlie Reese, rich and well known, to post a $1,000.00 purse and let France recruit drivers and spread the word. Danny Murphy beat France in the 150-miler that generated just enough profit to convince the co-promoter to do it again. They managed another successful stock car promotion on Labor Day weekend of 1938. France beat Lloyd Moody and Pig Ridings in that race and then organized and promoted three more races in March, July, and September of 1939. They did it again in March , July 4, and September of 1940 France fared well in those three races of 1940 finishing fourth in March, first in July, and sixth in September. France was able to promote two races in March, one each in July and August of 1941 prior to the war breaking out. The war brought a stop to motor sport racing and France went to work for the Daytona Boat Works while his wife handled the family filling station.
Shortly after the war ended and things started returning to normal Bill France left the boat works. France was obsessed with the idea that a single, firmly governed sanctioning body was necessary if stock car was to be a success. He was well aware, as a driver and promoter, that the minor-league sanctioning bodies reeked of inconsistency. France wanted an
organization that would sanction and promote races, bring uniformity to race procedures plus technical rules. He wanted an association that would oversee a membership benefit and insurance fund, and one that would promise to pay postseason awards, and crown a single national champion using a clearly defined points system.
At that time there were several organizations who claimed to sanction national championship races. One was the American Automobile Association (AAA), but they were more concerned with open-wheel, open-cockpit, champ car racing. The A.A.A eventually became known as the USAC/CART league (Indy-car racing). The other groups were the United Stock Car Racing Association, National Auto Racing league, and American Stock Car Racing Association. The Georgia based National Stock Car Racing Association was only interested with-in the state and so they didn't crown a national champion. The Daytona Beach Racing Association only promoted within the city so they made no claim to a national champion either. France was so devoted to creating a racing association that would adhere to the rules mentioned above. With that in 1947 he retired from racing so he could concentrate all his time and attention to organize that body.
The first meeting of the National Association for Stock Car Automobile Racing was held on December 12, 1947 at the Streamline Inn Motel in Daytona Beach, Florida. The organization named Bill France Sr. as its first president. William Henry Getty France, aka, Big Bill France, gathered together a group of racing promoters, drivers, and mechanics with the dream of establishing an organization to set a standard set of rules and regulations to help promote stock car racing.
Incorporated on February 21, 1948, the organization hired Erwin "Cannonball" Baker to be the first Commissioner of Racing. The new organization sanctioned its first race on the Daytona Beach road/beach course in February of 1948, several days before it was legally incorporated. More than 14,000 fans watched that first event, a 150-miler that Red Byron won ahead of Teague, Raymond Parks, Buddy Shuman, and Wayne Pritchett.
France's original plan was for NASCAR to oversee three separate and distinct classes of cars: Strictly Stock Cars, Modified Stock Cars, and Roadsters. Perhaps surprisingly, the Modified and Roadster classes were seen as more attractive to fans than Strictly Stock. As things turned out, though, the audience NASCAR attracted wanted nothing to do with Roadsters, a "Yankee" series more popular in the Midwest and Northeast. It didn't take long for France to recognize that he didn't need the Roadster.
After the war was over the big automakers had to switch production from Tanks and Jeeps back to their makes of cars. This got France to thinking that the fans would want to purchase cars when they see them winning at the races and he knew that productions were going to be slow for a while. He decided that NASCAR would run pre '40s Fords and Chevrolets plus a handful of new Buick's were allowed. The 1948 NASCAR schedule covered 52 dirt-track races for modified's and Red Byron was the national champion that year.
In February of 1949 France staged a 20 mile exhibition race near Miami for his Strictly Stock division. Fearing he would lose out to a promoter in North Carolina, France decided to stage a Strictly Stock points race. This race took place in June and was scheduled as a 200-lap, 150 mile race around a 3/4-mile dirt track in Charlotte, North Carolina. It carried
a purse of $5,000. for 33 street-legal family sedans that had been built since 1946. Pole sitter Bob Flock led the first five laps in a 46 Hudson, Bill Blair led laps 6 thru 150 in a 1949 Lincoln, and Glen Dunnaway led the remaining laps in a 1947 Ford. After the race Dunnaway's car was inspected and failed because he had altered the rear springs. He was disqualified and moved to the back of the field and stripped him of the win and money. This moved Roper to the first place spot followed by Fonty Flock in second, Byron in third, Sam Rice in fourth, and Tim Flock finished out the top five. Hubert Westmoreland owner of Dunnaway's car sued the new sanctioning body for $10,000. however a North Carolina Judge ruled that the officials had the right to make and enforce their rules without outside interference and dismissed the suit.
That mid-summer race attracted 13,000 plus fans, far more than was expected. NASCAR promoted seven more Strictly Stock races that year: two each in North Carolina and Pennsylvania, one each in Florida, New York, and Virginia. Byron won the Strictly Stock class that year in what was to become the Grand Nationals and Winston Cup series. Lee Petty finished second in points followed by Bob Flock, Curtis Turner, and Jack Smith. Fifty drivers raced in at least one race each that year and between 16 and 45 drivers showed up for each race.
France wondered what was missing from his Strictly Stock division. He had to come up with a blockbuster event to draw more attention to his Strictly Stock cars. The USAC champ car circuit had the Indy 500, and NASCAR Modified and Sportsman division had their annual beach/road races in February at Daytona Beach. In 1950 Harold Brasington built a 1.25 mile, high-banked, egg shaped speedway just west of his hometown of Darlington. He stunned the racing world by paving it and saying that he wanted to someday host a 500-mile stock car race. Brasington himself a retired
racer had known France from their old racing days at Daytona and other dirt tracks throughout the Southeast and Midwest. He was aware that France's new organization wanted to expand their image and he figured a 500-mile
race would be the answer.
In the fall of 1949 Brasington bought a 70 acre farm from Sherman Ramsey and he began carving a superspeedway out of what had been a cotton and peanut field. Instead of developing his track into a true oval, he was forced to create an egg-shaped facility with one end tighter, more steeply-banked and narrower than the other end. You see he promised Ramsey when he purchased the land that the track wouldn't disturb the minnow pond on the property's western fringe. So that meant that Barrington could make the eastern end as wide, sweeping, and flat as he wanted but the western end had to be just the opposite because of the minnow pond.
It took almost a year to build and pave the new track. In the summer of 1950 as Sam Nunis spoke of promoting a 500-mile NASCAR race at Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta, Barrington and France were making the final arrangements to run a 500-miler at Darlington on Labor-day. The inaugural Southern 500 carried a stock-car record purse of $25,000. and was co-sanctioned by NASCAR and the rival Central States Racing Association. Over 80 cars showed up and it took two weeks to get them all qualified. The race started with a 75 car field aligned in 25 rows and three abreast.
After filling all 9,000 seats fans were directed to the infield where a sea of over 6,000 people watched the race. It took Johnny Mantz more than six hours to cover the full 500 miles. He drove a 1950 Plymouth owned by France, Westmoreland, and a couple more guys. Fireball Roberts finished second, Red Byron was third, and Bill Rexford was fourth. The Southern 500 was NASCAR's only paved track event in 1950. There were only four paved events in 1951 and they were two at Dayton, Ohio and one each at Darlington, and Thompson, Connecticut. Paved tracks didn't begin to gain acceptance until the late '50s. Darlington and the half-miler at Dayton each had two races in 1952. In 1953 Darlington and the new 1-mile asphalt track at Raleigh, North Carolina each had a Grand National race. In 1954 Darlington, Raleigh, and the paved road course at Linden, New Jersey Airport had a race each. In 1955 Martinsville, Virginia had one race, Darlington one race, and Raleigh had two races.
NASCAR's future began to come in focus in 1956. NASCAR sanctioned 11 paved-track races among 56 events. They had 14 out of 53 venues in 1957, and 24 out of 51 venues in 1958. Not only were they racing on oval tracks France also scheduled road course races at Watkins Glen, New York, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, and Bridgehampton, New York. Suddenly, almost overnight, it seemed NASCAR racing was becoming a national series rather than a regional series, Bill France's dream was heading toward the future. NASCAR history tells the real story.
To watch the remeberance of
Dale Earnhardt Sr.
Click the photo below
There was never any doubt in Dale Earnhardt's mind about what he wanted to be in life. As a young boy watching his father Ralph race -- and win -- in Stock car events throughout the Southeast, Dale developed a love for the sport that would ultimately fuel one of the most successful careers in the history of motorsports.
In his late teens, Dale began racing Hobby-class cars in and around his native Kannapolis, NC, working full-time by day, welding and mounting tires, and either racing or working on his cars by night. He financed his own effort, oftentimes having to borrow money to buy parts and pieces to run on the weekends, hoping to win enough to pay back the bank on Monday.
In 1973, Ralph Earnhardt died of heart failure while working on his race car. Crushed by the loss, Dale eventually learned to cope by becoming more determined than ever to be successful as a driver. He continued to compete on the Sportsman circuit, racing at speedways near his home such as Hickory, Concord, and Metrolina Fairgrounds.
Dale made his Winston Cup debut in 1975, finishing 22nd while driving Ed Negre's Dodge in the World 600 at Charlotte in a deal put together by CMS President Richard Howard. Over the next three years, he made a total of eight more starts, the last of which was the 1978 Dixie 500 at Atlanta, when he drove a second car for Rod Osterlund. Earnhardt finished fourth in the race, one spot behind Osterlund's regular driver, Dave Marcis.
Marcis left after the 1978 season to start his own team, leaving Osterlund with a list of candidates to fill the seat in his Chevrolet. He decided to take a chance on the young driver, and offered Dale his first full-time Winston Cup ride for the 1979 season. Earnhardt considers the offer the biggest break of his career.
In his first full season of competition, Dale scored his initial Winston Cup win at Bristol in just his 16th career start. Eight races later, he notched his first career pole at Riverside. By the end of the season, he had driven to 11 top 5 finishes and
beat Harry Gant, Terry Labonte and Joe Millikan for the rookie title in one of the most competitive rookie battles ever.
In 1980, with a young, yet solid team, good equipment and the determination to prove he belonged at racing's highest level, Earnhardt beat tough veteran Cale Yarborough for the NASCAR Winston Cup Series title to become the only driver ever to win the rookie crown and the series' championship in consecutive seasons.
Midway through the 1981 season, Osterlund sold his team to Jim Stacy. Earnhardt, disenchanted with the performance of the new team, left after only four races, deciding to finish the season driving for Richard Childress. By the end of the year, Childress realized that his cars were not performing at a level that justified a talent like Earnhardt's, so he urged Dale to accept an opportunity to drive for the well-established team of Bud Moore and big-dollar sponsor, Wrangler. Earnhardt accepted the ride in the #15 Fords, in which he competed for two seasons, winning three races and finishing
12th, then 8th in the points.
Meanwhile, Childress, with driver Ricky Rudd, was building his team into a championship contender. In the off-season between 1983 and 1984, Earnhardt made the decision to rejoin Childress. Driver and owner immediately began a program to achieve the level of performance both believed would take them to a NASCAR Winston Cup championship. Neither could have envisioned the success they would achieve together.
The duo captured their first championship two years later, in 1986, beginning a reign that would bring them six titles over the next nine seasons, accumulating records that attest to the talent and ability of one of the greatest drivers ever to
have raced the short tracks and superspeedways of NASCAR.
The highlights include:
Seven NASCAR Winston Cup championships ('80, '86, '87, '90, '91, '93, '94)
The only Winston driver to win Rookie of the Year and the Championship in successive years (1979, 1980).
Career winnings in excess of $40 million.
Five-time NMPA Driver of the Year ('80, '86, '87, '90, '94)
Only three-time winner of "The Winston" ('87, '90, '93)
Only six-time Busch Clash winner ('80, '86, '88, '91, '93, '95)
Four-time IROC champion ('90, '95, '99, '00)
Earnhardt has won nearly every major event and title available to NASCAR Winston Cup drivers, including the
Daytona 500.
In February 1998 after 20 attempts, Dale Earnhardt captured the only major victory that had eluded him throughout
his career, the Daytona 500. The win was the 71st of his career and came in his 575th Winston Cup start, placing him sixth on the all-time wins list. Earnhardt added to his legacy in 1998 when NASCAR honored him and his father Ralph as two of the 50 Greatest Drivers in NASCAR history.
Two years later, Earnhardt's son, Dale Jr. followed in his father's tire tracks, joining his dad on the Winston Cup circuit. The father experienced a career renaissance - nearly winning a record eighth Winston Cup championship - finishing second to Bobby Labonte in 2000.
In February 2001, Dale Earnhardt, elder and younger, opened Daytona Speedweeks together as two members of a team in the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, an annual sportscar race. The Earnhardts finished second in their class and fourth overall, proving to any doubters that Dale and son were more than just stock-car drivers.
The death of Dale Earnhardt on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 moved America like no other athlete's death ever had. Earnhardt was an original, a one-of-a-kind guy who captured the hearts of American stock car racing fans and the general public as well. With a twinkle in his eye and a devilish grin on his face, Earnhardt shoved and pushed his way to the front. With unparalleled determination, he willed his race cars to victory. He was loved not so much for the number of checkered flags and championships he won but for the spectacular style with which he won them.
"The King"
Richard Petty is the "Real Thing". Hardly any word or phrase can even begin to describe Richard Petty's grip on what creates an American legend. Fans call him, "The King", and rightly so, because that really just about says it all, along with his 200 career wins.
During the 32 years of Petty's racing career on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit, he has seen the sport grow from the dirt tracks of North Carolina to the brand new speedways built now fit for a millionaire's sky box at the latest dome. And from the real, drive them on the road stock cars, to the purpose built high performance models used today, Richard Petty's impact on the sport of motor racing outstrips the glory of any one of his victory lanes.
Petty was born in Level Cross, North Carolina on June 2, 1937. As is true of most legendaries , "The King" began his life and career "from humble beginnings". His father, Lee, raced cars, and Petty often traveled with his mother and his brother, Maurice following his father's own career. As a young man Petty watched his father, Lee, win three Grand National (now Winston Cup) championships. Soon enough, the brothers became men. Maurice went to work on engines, and in 1958 it was time for Richard to take to the track. Between winning his first race at the long gone Charlotte Speedway in 1960, and running his last race at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in 1992, Richard Petty?s record cannot be
compared fairly.
Like other real life heroes before him, Richard Petty's only flaw is the incomprehensible superiority of his own achievements. Many agree that Petty has been, and continues to be, the guiding force turning NASCAR racing into the most popular form of motor sports in America today.
Richard Petty has won the Most Popular Driver award nine times. Wearing his trademark cowboy hat and shades, Petty signs autographs for his fans everywhere he goes. As a celebrity, Petty's main attraction is the vibrant, honest and heartfelt love for his fans. The fans feel his warmth and sincerity, and The King inspires an example of the greatest loyalty other figures in the spotlight can only dream about.
As a public figure Richard Petty makes it clear that the two most important things in his life are his family and his fans. Winning races doesn't hurt, but Petty let's people know where his values are, and his values of family and community are the right values that all of his fans can respect. Petty always gives his fans the credit for his long career, saying that
without them coming to the track every week there would be nothing. You won't hear that in professional tennis.
Petty retired from competitive driving at the end of the 1992 season, but he has not stopped the hunt for victory. Petty Enterprises won two Winston Cup teams, and a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race truck. The journey continues and the goal remains the same.
Richard Petty's son Kyle followed his father into competitive racing, and now Kyle's son, Adam races cars. Starting with Richard Petty's father, Lee, the family now how has four generations of the Petty family ensuring the endurance their dynasty.
Below is a more comprehensive list of Richard Petty's incredible career.
*Won 200 of 1,185 NASCAR Winston Cup races entered.
*Career winnings of $7,755,409.
*Won 7 WCS Championships: 1964, '67, '71, '72, '74, '75, '79.
*Won prize money in six figures 25 different times.
*Winston Cup Series Rookie of the Year, 1959
*The Petty Crew won 10 Winston Cup championships Lee Petty 1954, '58, '59, while Richard won seven (7).
*Petty became the sport's first million dollar driver after the Dixie 500 on August 1, 1971 in Atlanta, GA.
*Driver of the Year, 1971.
*Inducted into North Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame, 1973.
*Most Popular Winston Cup Series Driver, 1962, 1964, 1968, 1970, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978.
*National Motorsport* Chosen as recipient of the NMPA's Myers Brothers Award in 1964, 1967, 1971 and 1992 for his significant contribution to the sport.s Press Association's (NMPA) Driver of the Year 1974, 1975.
*Presented NASCAR's Award of Excellence, 1987.
*Named American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association (AARWBA) most outstanding driver, 1992.
*Received Medal of Freedom, highest U.S. civilian award, 1992.
*AARWBA's Man of the Year for contributions on and off the track, 1995.
*200 Career Wins.
*Charter Inductee North Carolina Auto Racing Hall of Fame, 1997.
*Inducted International Motorsports Hall of Fame, 1997.
*Competed in 513 consecutive Winston Cup races. The 18 year streak lasted from the Capital City 500 in Richmond, VA on November 14, 1971 through the Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 in Atlanta, GA on March 19, 1989. STP sponsored 510 of the 513 starts.
*$7,755,409 won in a career.
*55 Superspeedway victories.
*41 500-mile victories, an all-time international racing record.
*$531,292 won in a single season, 1979.
*27 wins in a season - 1967 (48 races).
*13 wins in a short season - 1975 (30 races).
*10 wins in a row - 1967.
*1,185 races entered.
*158 second place finishes, 550 top 5 finishes, 693 top 10 finishes.
*Seven Daytona 500 victories - (1964, '66, '71, '73, '74, '79, '81).
*Seven Carolina 500 victories - (1967, '70, '71, '74, '76, '77, '83).
*Nine-time winner/Most Popular Driver Award (1962, '64, '68, '70, '74, '75, '76, '77, '78) .
*Petty leads David Pearson 200 to 105 in Winston Cup victories and superspeedway wins, 55-51.
*Petty's 1981 Daytona 500 victory earned him his largest purse ($90,575).
Benny Parsons, who charmed television audiences with his folksy demeanor as much as he impressed fans with his ability as a driver, died Tuesday at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte following complications from lung cancer. He was 65.
The former self-proclaimed Detroit taxi driver-turned-NASCAR racer never forgot his humble rural North Carolina roots, and it came through in every aspect of his life.
Even though he gained fame as the 1973 Winston Cup champion and winner of the 1975 Daytona 500, Parsons understood that as a broadcast analyst, it was his job to aim the spotlight away from himself.
"I heard someone say this one time and I thought it was fabulous," Parsons said. "Everyone can't be stars. Someone has to sit on the sidewalk and clap as they go by.
"We announcers on TV that talk about sports are simply the people sitting on the sidewalk clapping as the parade goes by. We are no longer the stars. The guys on the racetracks and in football and basketball games -- those are the stars."
Still Parsons was a star in his own right. He was born in 1941 in Wilkes County, N.C., but resided for much of his life in Ellerbe, just a few miles up the road from Rockingham, home of North Carolina Motor Speedway. It was there that perhaps Parsons' greatest accomplishment as a driver took place in the 1973 season finale.
Holding a slim lead over Richard Petty, Parsons' car was heavily damaged in a Lap 13 accident. However, with help from a number of different teams in the garage area, Parsons was able to get back on the track, completing enough laps to finish 28th and win the title.
Parsons' racing career came somewhat by accident. When his parents moved north to Detroit following World War II, Parsons helped work at his father's service station.
One evening in 1963, a truck towing a racecar stopped at the station for fuel. Parsons was invited to join them and hopped into the bed of the pickup on the way to nearby Mount Clemens Speedway. According to the story, when the regular driver failed to show up, Parsons volunteered to drive.
Parsons made his first visit to Daytona that same year.
"I had become a huge race fan and had been going to the races with some guys that were running the ARCA series up in the Midwest. I didn't know a soul [in Daytona], and couldn't get in the garage area," he said.
"But I would buy my infield ticket for three or four dollars -- whatever it was to come in -- and just hang on the fence and watch those cars being pushed by. I would've paid anything I had in my pocket just to push -- you know, [Fred] Lorenzen's car and Ned Jarrett's car and Fireball [Robert's] car."
The highlight of the trip, Parsons recalled, was when he met H.B. Bailey's wife in the lobby of the hotel where they were staying.
"She slipped me a pit pass, so I got in for about two hours one day," Parsons said. "It was the highlight of my life, getting inside the garage area and getting close to those racecars."
Parsons quickly made a name for himself in the Midwest racing ranks, winning ARCA rookie of the year honors in 1965, then capturing the ARCA championship in 1968 and 1969.
He made his NASCAR debut in 1964, earning $250 for a 21st-place finish after his Holman-Moody Ford began overheating.
Parsons qualified for the first of 20 Daytona 500 starts in 1969, finishing eighth in the No. 88 Ford. He would go on to run the entire 1970 season in L.G. DeWitt's No. 72, posting the first of 21 career victories at Virginia's South Boston Speedway in 1971.
When David Pearson spun out while leading with two laps remaining in the 1975 Daytona 500, Parsons was there to take the checkered flag, giving Chevrolet its first win in that race since 1960.
Parsons also became the first driver to qualify a stock car at over 200 mph when he won the pole at Talladega for the 1982 Winston 500 at a speed of 200.176 mph.
After retiring as an active driver following the 1988 season, Parsons joined ESPN as a race analyst, winning an Ace Award in 1989 and an Emmy in 1996. He moved over to NBC and TNT when those networks began NASCAR coverage in 2001.
In July, Parsons revealed that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer. Parsons admitted he had been a smoker but had kicked the habit nearly 30 years before.
"The first thing everyone asks me is, 'Are you a smoker?'," Parsons said at the time. "The answer is that I smoked my last cigarette way back in 1978 and since then I've hated being around smoking. I don't even allow anyone in my foursome to smoke on the golf course."
After treatment, the 65-year-old announced in October that his cancer was in full remission.
"Three months ago my family doctor called me into his office and told me I had lung cancer," Parsons said at the time. "So Rick Hendrick told me if I was going to fight cancer, you have to get [oncologist Steven A.] Limentani. He helped Rick through his leukemia 10 years ago. So we did.
"The last three months we have been battling the disease. Then Wednesday, I had a scan and [Limentani] called me Wednesday afternoon with the best news: 'The cancer is gone ... see ya.' "
However, Parsons was unable to attend the Nextel Cup Awards Ceremony in New York as the cancer treatment reportedly left his left lung too damaged to function properly, according to a report in the Charlotte Observer.
He was admitted to the hospital for the final time on Dec. 26 as his condition progressively worsened.
Parsons was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1994 and named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers in 1998.
Benny Parsons never won a race at North Carolina Speedway, and has always maintained winning the Daytona 500 in 1975 was a greater thrill than becoming the Winston Cup champion in 1973.
"It wasn't that big a deal, winning the championship, back then," Parsons said in 2003. "Winning the Winston Cup is big now, but when I won the Daytona 500 in 1975, it was a much bigger deal than the championship."
Parsons was reliving the past in 2003 as Matt Kenseth sped toward the championship despite winning only one race that year, becoming just the second driver in the Modern Era to do so. The first: Parsons in 1973.
And while he says one of his biggest disappointments was never having won at North Carolina Speedway -- which set a mere 10 miles from his race shop in his native Ellerbe, N.C. -- it was at The Rock where Parsons enjoyed perhaps the most emotional moment of his career.
Parsons needed a remarkable recovery in the season's 28th and final race that season to beat out the likes of Cale Yarborough and Richard Petty for the title. Parsons came into the race leading second-place Petty by 194.35 points.
But trouble found Parsons early. A collision with another car on Lap 13 ripped apart the right side of his No. 72 Chevrolet, owned by then-track president L.G. DeWitt.
"My heart sank because I knew it was over," Parsons said. "You don't repair damage like that.
"I got hit by a car coming out of the second turn and it knocked the entire right side off the car, including the roll cage. We had brought extra equipment, things like rear ends, springs, bell housing ... but obviously no roll bars.
"The car was still on the wrecker when someone noticed a car sitting in the garage that had failed to qualify."
That's when crew chief Travis Carter went to work. Under the watchful eye of NASCAR officials, Carter and volunteers from other teams worked a miracle and got the car back on the track.
"We went and took the roll cage out of that car and put it in ours," Parsons said. "It took an hour and 15 minutes before we got back on the track.
"One of the greatest moments of my career was pulling out from pit road after the repairs. When I got down the backstretch, it was like a wave with all the fans standing. Same thing when I got to Turn 4."
Parsons soon received another ovation that day. As Parsons drove his car to the winner's circle following the race, other team members stood on pit wall and applauded.
Parsons completed only 308 of the 492 laps in the American 500, failing to complete the race even after returning. He finished 28th and beat Yarborough, who was third, by 67.15 points for the title. A broken camshaft resulted in a 35th-place finish for Petty, who dropped to fifth in the final point standings.
"I think we parked it, once we got to where we knew we had the championship in hand," Parsons said of his shaky car. "There wasn't much drama.
"My reaction was mostly, 'Whew, it's over.' It was more a sense of relief than joy."
As Kenseth closed in on his championship in 2003, a sense of pride came over Parsons for what he had achieved in 1973. Kenseth, much like Parsons years before, came under fire for winning the title with only one race win to his credit.
David Pearson won the final race in 1973, one of 11 checkers he brought home that year. Petty won six times and Yarborough was a four-time winner. Parsons wasn't even in the car when it crossed the finish line for the only win in which he was credited, on July 8 at Bristol.
"I had a pinched nerve in my neck and Bristol is about the toughest track physically we ran," Parsons said. "Most of the time, you're fighting to keep from sliding out the door."
Parsons said he drove about 300 laps and then handed off to relief driver John Utsman to become the only car on the lead lap at the completion of the 500 laps.
"It was July, and it was blistering, and it was only four days after the Firecracker 400 at Daytona," Parsons said. "I could have never done it all myself."
Parsons had 15 top-five finishes with a series-high 21 top-10s in 28 races. Despite his high win total, Pearson started in just 18 races.
"I felt like we had won the championship," said Parsons, who later would amass 18 wins in a seven-year period from 1975-81. "Pearson failed to show up for 10 races; therefore he relinquished his right to the championship."
Parsons earned $182, 321 in winnings, only fifth-best that year. Pearson won $228,408, participating mostly in those events with a larger payout. It sparked a change in the points system the following two years, but Kenseth proved it didn't solve the problem.
That is, if it was a problem.
"I think we need to reward the teams for finishing races and being there at the end," Parsons said in 2003. "Our season was kind of like Matt Kenseth's season. We only won one race, but we were terribly consistent finishing in the top-five, top-10."
Beginning at Bristol in March and ending there with his summer victory, Parsons put together a 14-race stretch of top-10 finishes. Ten of those were top-five runs as he jumped to the top of the point standings.
Parsons put together a late-season stretch where he finished no worse than sixth in six consecutive races leading up to the season finale.
"I could have bad luck, yet I'd always manage to finish in the top 10," Parsons said.
Yet all the while, defending Cup champion Petty was closing the gap.
Petty kept the heat on Parsons by putting together a seven-race streak of two wins, three second-place finishes and no worse than seventh going into the October finale when Parsons was put between a Rock and a hard place. He responded by celebrating a title that day at his beloved Rockingham.
"L.G. DeWitt loved the Sandhills of North Carolina and wanted that area represented in NASCAR," Parsons said.
Schedules:
Past Champions:
NASCAR Nextel Cup Champions
1949 Red Byron
1950 Bill Rexford
1951 Herb Thomas
1952 Tim Flock
1953 Herb Thomas
1954 Lee Petty
1955 Tim Flock
1956-57 Buck Baker
1958-59 Lee Petty
1960 Rex White
1961 Ned Jarrett
1962-63 Joe Weatherly
1964 Richard Petty
1965 Ned Jarrett
1966 David Pearson
1967 Richard Petty
1968-69 David Pearson
1970 Bobby Isaac
1971-72 Richard Petty
1973 Benny Parsons
1974-75 Richard Petty
1976-78 Cale Yarborough
1979 Richard Petty
1980 Dale Earnhardt
1981-82 Darrell Waltrip
1983 Bobby Allison
1984 Terry Labonte
1985 Darrell Waltrip
1986-87 Dale Earnhardt
1988 Bill Elliott
1989 Rusty Wallace
1990-91 Dale Earnhardt
1992 Alan Kulwicki
1993-94 Dale Earnhardt
1995 Jeff Gordon
1996 Terry Labonte
1997-98 Jeff Gordon
1999 Dale Jarrett
2000 Bobby Labonte
2001 Jeff Gordon
2002 Tony Stewart
2003 Matt Kenseth
2004 Kurt Busch
2005 Tony Stewart
2006 Jimmie Johnson
2007 Jimmie Johnson
Drivers of Interest:
Handing over the family bussiness at 300 mph.
We've seen men named Earnhardt and Andretti build auto racing empires with an eye on the horizon, trying to picture the day when one of their sons would go zooming by.
John Force did the same over the last two decades, but with a twist: On Tuesday, the biggest name in the drag-racing game handed the keys to one of the family cars to his 24-year-old daughter, Ashley.
"A lot of people want me to say, 'I'll kick dad's butt,"' Ashley said over the telephone from California, taking a break from her daylong media blitz. "Not so fast.
"I've been around long enough to know he's won dozens of races he had no business winning. So the only thing I'll say about that is I've learned from the best."
"But I've seen him acting all goofy in a robe and slippers, too," she laughed. "So maybe he won't seem quite as intimidating to me as he does to a lot of guys out here."
The 2007 drag-racing season opens Feb. 8 in Pomona, Calif., and ends there in early November. Somewhere in between, at one of the nearly two dozen tracks where the NHRA Powerade Series puts down stakes for the weekend, 14-time series winner and defending champion John Force and rookie Ashley will wind up waiting at the same traffic light.
Once it turns green, each will try to keep a funny car traveling at speeds over 300 mph glued to the center line of the quarter-mile road stretched out before them. Part of John Force's four-car team, they won't be teammates for the 4.5 or so seconds it takes to reach the finish line.
"The tough thing is, when I look at her in the cockpit, those are the same fierce little eyes I'd see when we put her on a tricycle the first time," John Force said. "She's not a yeller and screamer like me. She handles pressure a lot different than I do."
When Ashley won her first big race two years ago in Indianapolis, still competing on the NHRA's Triple-A circuit, John got so emotional he ran behind the grandstand and threw up.
"By the time I found Ashley, she was sitting there all calm," he recalled. "She just looked at me and said, 'I did like you always told me: Step on the gas when you see amber, and either you win or you don't."'
Force is 57, but he won't be retiring anytime soon. Not only does he have expectations to meet and sponsors to satisfy for five more years, he's also trying to build an audience for a real-life comedy series on the A&E network called "Driving Force."
It's a weekly, wacky, half-hour look at the man who planned on having sons struggling to groom three daughters to run his empire instead -- Ashley's younger sisters, Brittany and Courtney, both plan on following her lead in the next few years.
"So if I'm going to stay in the game and on top long enough for that to happen," Force said with some resignation, "somewhere down the line I'm going to have to beat Ashley."
Ashley is hardly a pioneer in one sense. Three women had reached drag racing's winner's circle even before Shirley Muldowney regularly began clocking male rivals in the 1970s and early 1980s, inspiring "Heart Like A Wheel," the first movie made about a drag racer of either sex. Last season, Melanie Troxel was good enough to nearly duplicate Muldowney's last series championship title a quarter-century ago.
On the other hand, the John Force-Ashley Force duel almost certainly will mark the first time a father and daughter have competed against each other in pro sports. In what is definitely a sign of the times, the story didn't even dominate the day's racing headlines, let alone the entire sports section.
Part of it, no doubt, was because NASCAR champion and broadcaster Benny Parsons died the same day. Another part had to do with drag racing's niche status. For sheer man-bites-dog quality, the Force family announcement was competing with 72-year-old James Hylton, who returned to the Daytona 500 more than four decades after he first raced there -- to try and qualify again.
Even more telling, though, is how accustomed we've become to women in general -- and superstars' daughters in particular -- making their marks in what were once men-only pursuits. Laila Ali dominates women's boxing the way her more famous father once did on the men's side. In the WNBA, Cheryl Ford delivers points and rebounds with the same reliability that earned her dad, Karl Malone, his NBA nickname, "The Mailman."
Like those two, Ashley Force has been groomed for success. She spent some of her childhood hanging out at tracks, chose auto shop over home economics in high school, then studied business and marketing while getting her degree from Cal State-Fullerton.
She is arriving at the right time, as the NHRA unveils its own playoff series, called "Countdown to the Championship," in 2007.
When she started competing, John Force saw to it that Ashley had topflight teachers, equipment and crews. That influence helped explain her quick success on the track, despite racing part time. But he takes no credit for the way she charms sponsors and the media, nor her being good-looking enough to stop traffic.
"Like her temperament," John Force said, "that's something she gets from her mother."
The Teams and Drivers I Like:
In 23 years of competition, Hendrick Motorsports has garnered six NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now NEXTEL Cup) championships, three NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series titles and one NASCAR Busch Series crown, making it one of stock-car racing's premier organizations. Rick Hendrick is just the second team owner in NASCAR's modern era to earn more than 100 Cup Series victories.
The four full-time NEXTEL Cup teams of Hendrick Motorsports include Kyle Busch in the No. 5 Kellogg's Chevrolet; four-time champion Jeff Gordon in the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet; Casey Mears in the No. 25 National Guard/GMAC Chevrolet; and the 2006 Nextel Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson in the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet. Two-time cup series champion Terry Labonte will also pilot the No. 44 Chevrolet in ten events in 2006 as part of his "Shifting Gears" tour.
On the Busch Series level, Kyle Busch returns to pilot the No. 5 Lowe's Chevrolets in 2007.
Hendrick Motorsports' sponsor-partners include some of the world's most respected brands: Kellogg's, DuPont, GMAC, Lowe's, Bosch, CARQUEST, Chevrolet, Cintas, Clevite, Club Car, Delphi, EMP, Freightliner, Garnier Fructis, GMAC Insurance, GMAC Protection Plan, Gatorade, Georgia Pacific, Gillette, Goodyear, HAAS, Hitachi, Kobalt, Levi Strauss, LORD Corporation, Mac Tools, Mechanix Wear, Mt. Dew, Nicorette, Ore-Ida, Pella, Pepsi, Quaker State, Shop-Vac, Simpson, Spectrum Brands, Time Warner Cable, UGS, National Gaurd, and Wix Filters.
Under the Hendrick banner, records have been set in both victories and consistency, with four consecutive Southern 500 victories (Gordon); six consecutive road course wins (Gordon); youngest driver to reach 50 career Cup Series triumphs (Gordon); youngest driver to win a race in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (Ricky Hendrick); only driver to win three Truck Series championships (Jack Sprague); and the youngest driver to ever win a NASCAR championship (Vickers, no longer with the company).
Chevrolet race cars entered by Hendrick in Cup Series competition have won the prestigious Daytona 500 six times (1986, 1989, 1997,1999, 2005 and 2006)
All Hendrick race cars are constructed start-to-finish at the 90-acre complex, and more than 700 engines are built or re-built on-site each year, with the team leasing some of those to other NASCAR outfits. The first to implement professional pit crews, HMS employs on-site fitness trainers and operates a fully equipped gym to assure that personnel are in shape and ready for race day.
More than 500 employees call Hendrick Motorsports home, and day-to-day activities include management of HendrickMotorsports.com, the 15,000-square-foot museum and team store, marketing, public relations, sponsor services, licensing, show cars, merchandising, and much more.
I know this is not NASCAR but I am a huge fan of all racing so I have to post this...
RIP PAUL DANA
HOMESTEAD, Fla. - Paul Dana was an up-and-coming rookie driver living his dream, a former motorsports journalist who was hours away Sunday from beginning his most promising season yet.
Then, before the green flag flew, something went terribly, inexplicably wrong.
While streaking around the Homestead-Miami Speedway oval during a warmup session, Dana failed to notice that another car had spun to a stop, slamming into it at close to 200 mph. Two hours after his shattered car came to a rest, the 30-year-old Dana was pronounced dead at a hospital.
The Tony Stewart Foundation
The Tony Stewart Foundation was founded in 2003 and offers funds for care of chronically ill children, injured drivers and protection of animals.
The Dale Earnhardt Foundation
Founded in 2002 by wife Teresa Earnhardt, Dale Earnhardt's legacy lives on through the support of causes including child advocacy, education and wildlife preservation.
The Dale Jarrett Foundation
Formed by Dale and Kelly Jarrett in 2002, the Dale Jarrett Foundation provides funds and grants for physical, social and educational needs for families and children.
Ernie Irvan Race2Safety Foundation
Through his Race2Safety Foundation, Ernie Irvan is now committed to the greatest race of his life- the race to reduce the incidence and severity of traumatic brain injury through awareness, education and prevention.
The Green Foundation
Founded by brothers Jeff and Mark Green in 2002, the Green Foundation assists children with chronic illnesses, at-risk youth, and charitable motorsport initiatives.
The Greg Biffle Foundation
The Greg Biffle Foundation for Animals was founded in 2005 by Greg Biffle and Nicole Lunders to create awareness and serve as an advocate to improve the well-being of animals by engaging the power and passion of the motorsports industry.
Hendrick Marrow Program
Founded in 1997 in partnership with the Marrow Foundation and the National Marrow Donor Program, the program educates the public about marrow donation and raises money to add volunteers to the NMDP Registry and helps cover patient expenses.
Jamie McMurray Foundation
The Jamie McMurray Foundation (JMF) seeks to promote awareness of, and raise funding for research, education, and support for individuals and families affected with autism. JMF will both organize its own activities to achieve those goals and will support other charitable organizations providing opportunities to autistic or otherwise disadvantaged youth and that raise awareness about autism.
The Jeff Gordon Foundation
Dedicated to help support the physical, social and intellectual needs of children and families throughout the US. The Jeff Gordon Gordon Foundation supports The Marrow Foundation, Riley Hospital for Children, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, The Marrow Foundation in partnership with the Hendrick Marrow Program and The Jeff Gordon Children's Hospital at Northeast Medical Center in Concord, NC.
Jimmie Johnson Foundation
The Jimmie Johnson Foundation is dedicated to assisting children, families and communities throughout the United States. By donating to needy and worthy causes, the foundation strives to help everyone, particularly children, pursue their dreams.
The Kasey Kahne Foundation
The Kasey Kahne Foundation raises and donates funds to charitable organizations that care for chronically ill children and their families. It is also committed to positive cultural change by focusing on diversity awareness and giving underprivileged boys and girls ample opportunities for success.
The Kenny Irwin Jr. Foundation
www.kennyirwinjrfoundation.org
The Kenny Irwin Jr. Memorial Foundation and the Dare to Dream Camp was created to honor the life of the late NASCAR driver Kenny Irwin Jr. and to enrich the lives of underprivileged, at-risk, neglected and abused children by providing recreational opportunities and mentoring at this one-of-a-kind, racing-themed camp.
Kyle Petty Charity Ride
www.kylepettycharityride.com
Kyle Petty combined his passion for helping others and a love of motorcycles to create the annual Chick-fil-A Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America. This annual trek features NASCAR celebrities, sponsors and fans traveling cross-country to raise money for Victory Junction Gang Camp and other children's charities. logged over 42,000 miles and donated more than $8 million in 11 years.
Martinsville Speedway Children's Foundation
The Martinsville Speedway Children's Foundation is a nonprofit organization directing its effort toward helping children in need. The foundation raises funds through donations and events, and distributes the money among other nonprofit organizations or special projects to improve the lives of children in Martinsville and Henry County.
Racing for Literacy
Sponsored by Morgan-McClure Motorsports, Racing for Literacy challenges students to improve their reading and writing skills while learning about racing.
Racing for a Reason
A Ray Evernham Foundation, Racing for a Reason was originally founded in honor of Ray J. Evernham to raise funds for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and the fight against blood related cancers and supports other worthy causes.
The Randy Dorton Memorial Fund
Established in memory of Hendrick Motorsports' renowned engine builder, the Fund offers scholarships to promising young people who show promise as engine builders.
Ricky Craven Snowmobile Ride for Charity
The Ricky Craven Snowmobile Ride for Charity is a non-profit that raises money for five charities through a one-day event. The Ride offers participants time with Ricky, and encourages participants to reflect on those that benefit for the supported charities.
Roam For A Home Terry Labonte Foundation
The Roam For A Home Foundation was founded in Corpus Christi, Texas in 2001 by Terry Labonte for the purpose of developing a motorcycle ride (the Roam) to benefit the Ronald McDonald House and other charities. The annual ride, led by Terry Labonte, includes celebrities, sponsors and participants "Roaming" together to raise awareness of the Ronald McDonald House "Home away from Home" message.
The Ryan Newman Foundation
The mission of the Ryan Newman Foundation is to educate and encourage people to spay/neuter their pets and to adopt dogs and cats from animal shelters; to educate children and adults about the importance of conservation so the beauty of the great outdoors can be appreciated by future generations; and to provide college scholarship funding through the Rich Vogler Scholarship program to students interested in auto racing careers.
The Bobby Scruggs Memorial Foundation
The Bobby Scruggs Memorial Foundation was established to memorialize James R. (Bobby) Scruggs' long-time dedication to the sport of motor racing and to pay tribute to his long and determined struggle against cancer. The Foundation makes annual scholarship grants to young men and women pursuing a career in motorsports as well as grants to support cancer research and prevention.
All-American Soap Box Derby
The mission of the All-American Soap Box Derby is to educate and inspire youth through fair and honest competition and mentorship. With a primary goal to advance family values, the AASBD provides an environment in which parents or other adults work hands-on with racers to instill basic skills of workmanship, the spirit of competition, and the perseverance to complete a project from start to finish.
Speediatrics
Speediatrics is a NASCAR-themed pediatric unit at Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach, Florida and Homestead Hospital in Miami, Florida. In surroundings designed by NASCAR First Lady Betty Jane France, with modern equipment and a top-flight staff, youngsters literally race to the finish line of recovery in a fun-filled facility that's often visited by top NASCAR drivers.
Speedway Children's Charities
Speedway Children's Charities (SCC) is dedicated to providing funds to nonprofit charities making a direct and significant impact in the lives of children in need. We acknowledge that many organizations providing the most basic care for children in crisis are those that have limited budgets, staff and name recognition but are often making the most impact in their neighborhoods, communities, and regions. It is SCC's mission to provide the tools (funds) needed for these quality organizations to continue to make a difference with medical, educational or social services.
Spirit of America
The Spirit of America 500 is the nation's largest 9/11 blood drive. This race-themed blood drive held anually on 9/11 at Michigan International Speedway treats donors to a uniquely special experience of food, fun, homage and patriotism.
Urban Youth Racing School
Founded in 1998, the School is dedicated to giving inner-city youth more opportunity and a chance to enhance their life skills by exposing them to the career opportunities in the Motorsports and Automotive Industries by using motorsports as the magnet and education as the compass.
Victory Junction Gang Camp
The mission of the Victory Junction Gang is to enrich the lives of children with chronic and medical conditions or serious illnesses by providing life-changing camping experiences that are exciting, fun and empowering, in a safe and medically sound environment.
The Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation
The Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation promotes education and awareness of wildlife conservation, habitat enhancement and natural resource stewardship.
Women's Auxiliary of Motorsports, Inc.
WAM enriches the sport of NASCAR with a commitment to families through fundraising and wellness programs for those requiring assistance. In addition, the Women's Auxiliary of Motorsports, Inc. helps support organizations with likeminded missions and purposes.
