Racing for a Cause

During my Power Series season nine campaign, along with racing for fun and for wins, I was racing to support a good cause.

I was inspired by a series-wide fundraiser in season eight that was organized by league competitor and top-notch replica car painter Kyle Guerry.  In 2014, Kyle pledged one dollar to the Victory Junction Gang Camps for each paint scheme request he fulfilled.

He then carried that over to the Power Series race at Texas — the Jolly Roger 250 benefiting Victory Junction — and 20 drivers in that race ran Kyle’s replica paints and donated to the cause.  With the driver donations and several sponsor donations combined, a total of $1,155 was raised for Victory Junction.

That widespread support convinced me to begin a season-long effort of my own to help my local community.  As for the cause, I also took some inspiration from a field trip I went on almost two decades ago.  In the fifth grade, I helped deliver food items donated from my elementary school to the Crisis Control Ministry food pantry.

A blurb about our field trip to the local food pantry, from the Kernersville News on November 29, 1997. That’s me in the middle.

Seeing the food they collected and hearing the stories of hungry people in my hometown was an eye-opening experience for a ten-year old, and it’s one I remembered when I was choosing a charity to race for.

I decided on the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, which serves a similar purpose — feeding the hungry — in a 34-county region across the state.  For every dollar donated, the Food Bank distributes $10 worth of food, and 97 cents out of every dollar goes directly to programs that feed those in need.

To put my money where those hungry mouths are, I came up with a straightforward fundraising idea: I pledged $1 for every lap led, $5 for every top-five finish, and an additional $20 for every win.

I also supported the cause with my paint schemes: My season nine designs included Food Bank and Feeding America logos on all of my cars.  The Food Bank was given primary positioning on one car, which ran in five races.

My Food Bank-themed car from season nine, on track at Michigan.

In that sense, choosing a cause and ways to support it were the easy parts.  Actually racing to raise money was tougher, at least early in the season.  As I discussed in my season nine recap, my title defense got off to a slow start.  After the first seven races of the season, I had pledged just $20 from two top-fives and 10 laps led.

But as I spent more laps at the front of the field and picked up three wins, the pledges grew.  At the end of the 17-race season, I had pledged $227.

There is still one event left in the season: next Sunday’s All-Star Race at the Gateway Motorsports Park.  That track has a special meaning to me, since it was where I claimed my first online league victory more than 12 years ago, on September 27, 2002, in SOAR Racing’s Friday night NASCAR Racing 3 series.

As an homage to that win and a conclusion to the season-long fundraising effort for the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, I will run a throwback paint scheme for the All-Star Race, with Food Bank logos on the car replacing the original Pepsi sponsorship.

My winning car from the SOAR Racing league’s Gateway race (above), and my throwback car for the Power Series All-Star Race on May 17th (below).

I hope to pledge even more money based on my results in the All-Star Race, after which I will make a donation to the Food Bank.  Stay tuned after the race for an update and a final count for the season!