NASCAR helping Katrina Victims
I was hoping for this.... All the more reason to watch prerace this week. That will be great. Just because all drivers (and mine) aren't mentioned here, I am sure they are ALL doing something. Wow, Jimmy Johnson (my second fav) donating $480 per lap!! (for those who don't know, his car number is 48)
NASCAR joins in Hurricane Katrina relief effort
September 3, 2005
By Bruce Martin SportsTicker Contributing Editor
FONTANA, California (Ticker) There are plenty of giving souls within the NASCAR garage area ready to donate money and support to the relief effort of Hurricane Katrina and the citizens of the Gulf of Mexico region.
It was a topic of conversation at California Speedway on Friday, as drivers prepare for Sunday night's NASCAR Nextel Sony HD 500. These are teams and drivers committed to giving something back to help those in need.
Owner-driver Robby Gordon is going to donate $7 for every lap he runs for the rest of this season. He also has some friends and sponsors who are chipping in to help raise that to a goal of $100 a lap.
"We have it started, at least," Gordon said. "We're trying to make some sense of this. I've lived in California and have seen some earthquakes and stuff, but they are going downright nuts down there. They are losing their minds and, hopefully, we can get some relief to them."
Gordon said with no restrooms, the oil and gasoline in the water has created a terrible situation for those still in New Orleans.
"Like our government, everybody is in shock right now," he said. "What do you do? One guy I wouldn't want to be right now is the president. Everybody is in a state of confusion. We didn't expect to find this in our country.
"It's so big, where do we start? There are 90,000 square miles of damage, so where do you start?"
Gordon believes NASCAR and its participants live in their own traveling world, which sometimes detaches them from reality.
"We don't live in the real world and I try to pay attention to it as much as possible to have a reality check," Gordon said. "I'm tremendously sad by all of this."
The hurricane literally hit home to Busch Series driver Kim Crosby, who is from the New Orleans suburb of Slidell. Much of the town of 30,000 remains under water.
"There are people that evacuated that we can't get a hold of right now, and there are people we knew evacuated and now we can't find them," an emotional Crosby said. "My team member has a sister that he cannot locate right now. She did not evacuate, she stayed in New Orleans and it's very difficult for him at this time. We are both walking on eggshells this weekend, but we are very proud to run the American Red Cross on the hood of our cars.
"Our home, thank God, was spared. We have a roof over our head, but we won't have water or power for at least a month. But we are lucky compared to those in Gulfport (Mississippi) and the other parts of Slidell and downtown New Orleans."
Nextel Cup driver Jimmie Johnson and sponsor Lowe's Home Improvement is donating $480 for every lap he completes in Sunday night's race. If Johnson wins the race, he will contribute an additional $4,800.
Johnson and his wife also will donate $48,000, regardless of the race outcome.
"We feel so bad," Johnson said. "When this hit, I've had my eyes on different charities. We need to support our own country. We want to give back. Hopefully, what we've done will help the NASCAR community see this."
The Greg Biffle Foundation announced it has set up a fund by launching an online eBay auction on September 12 to assist with relief efforts. Items that will be auctioned include seven-day trips to St. Bart's and Paris as well as autographed memorabilia from star athletes, actors and entertainers.
In addition to the auction, money can be donated to www.gregbifflefoundation.com.
Team owner Richard Childress is going to send 15,000 pounds of his Signature Sausage brand to the relief effort, and team sponsor Cingular is donating cellular phones and other equipment.
"We're doing all we can do," Childress said. "What money we raise, I'm going to match it from the race shop. We started raising money on Wednesday."
Penske Racing South, including drivers Rusty Wallace, Ryan Newman and Travis Kvapil, will display its support for those affected by Hurricane Katrina this weekend at California Speedway.
The team's three entries each will carry a decal on the driver's side B-post in support of those in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida who are suffering from the damage of the Category 4 hurricane that hit the Gulf region earlier this week.
The decal will be on the three cars for this weekend's SONY HD 500 as well as next Saturday's NNCS race at Richmond International Raceway. The team's ARCA entry also will display the decal next weekend at Chicagoland Speedway.
"We, as a team, have decided that it's time to give back some of the support that's been given to us," Penske Racing South President Don Miller said. "We know we have fans down there that are hurting right now. Anything we can do to help, we need to do."
Several members of the Penske Racing South family have been directly affected by the hurricane's wrath. Family members have been displaced with no immediate hope of recovery or closure.
Penske Racing South also has started a hurricane relief fund within its headquarters in Mooresville, N.C. The team will gather monetary donations throughout the next two weeks, with all proceeds being sent to the American Red Cross.
In addition, donations will be accepted at the No. 12 Alltel/Team Caliber Souvenir trailers as well as the No. 2 Miller Lite and the No. 77 Kodak/Jasper Engines Action Souvenir trailers throughout the next two NASCAR races.
Donations also are being accepted at the Penske Racing South souvenir store located inside the race shop and the North Carolina Motorsports Hall of Fame and Museum in Mooresville.
Palettes of Gatorade, a sponsor of the Penske Racing South teams, and energy bars were sent to the Gulf area earlier this week.
"Our emphasis here is not to gain attention or praise for what we're doing," Miller said. "We want to show everyone across the country that every penny helps. Everyone can be donating to the American Red Cross. We just want to gain awareness and support through our race team to help those in need right now."
Donations can be made to the Penske Racing South hurricane relief fund by sending a check or money order to Penske Racing South, P.O. Box 500, Mooresville, NC 28115, or calling The American Red Cross directly at 1-800-HELP-NOW.
California Speedway and San Bernardino County Fire are teaming up to raise money during the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series event at the speedway this weekend to benefit the American Red Cross relief efforts for the victims.
This "Race for Relief" effort will replace the "Fill the Boot" drive, which originally was scheduled for this weekend to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association. California Speedway and San Bernardino County Fire have agreed to move the "Fill the Boot" drive to the February NASCAR race weekend at California Speedway in 2006.
NASCAR joins in Hurricane Katrina relief effort
September 3, 2005
By Bruce Martin SportsTicker Contributing Editor
FONTANA, California (Ticker) There are plenty of giving souls within the NASCAR garage area ready to donate money and support to the relief effort of Hurricane Katrina and the citizens of the Gulf of Mexico region.
It was a topic of conversation at California Speedway on Friday, as drivers prepare for Sunday night's NASCAR Nextel Sony HD 500. These are teams and drivers committed to giving something back to help those in need.
Owner-driver Robby Gordon is going to donate $7 for every lap he runs for the rest of this season. He also has some friends and sponsors who are chipping in to help raise that to a goal of $100 a lap.
"We have it started, at least," Gordon said. "We're trying to make some sense of this. I've lived in California and have seen some earthquakes and stuff, but they are going downright nuts down there. They are losing their minds and, hopefully, we can get some relief to them."
Gordon said with no restrooms, the oil and gasoline in the water has created a terrible situation for those still in New Orleans.
"Like our government, everybody is in shock right now," he said. "What do you do? One guy I wouldn't want to be right now is the president. Everybody is in a state of confusion. We didn't expect to find this in our country.
"It's so big, where do we start? There are 90,000 square miles of damage, so where do you start?"
Gordon believes NASCAR and its participants live in their own traveling world, which sometimes detaches them from reality.
"We don't live in the real world and I try to pay attention to it as much as possible to have a reality check," Gordon said. "I'm tremendously sad by all of this."
The hurricane literally hit home to Busch Series driver Kim Crosby, who is from the New Orleans suburb of Slidell. Much of the town of 30,000 remains under water.
"There are people that evacuated that we can't get a hold of right now, and there are people we knew evacuated and now we can't find them," an emotional Crosby said. "My team member has a sister that he cannot locate right now. She did not evacuate, she stayed in New Orleans and it's very difficult for him at this time. We are both walking on eggshells this weekend, but we are very proud to run the American Red Cross on the hood of our cars.
"Our home, thank God, was spared. We have a roof over our head, but we won't have water or power for at least a month. But we are lucky compared to those in Gulfport (Mississippi) and the other parts of Slidell and downtown New Orleans."
Nextel Cup driver Jimmie Johnson and sponsor Lowe's Home Improvement is donating $480 for every lap he completes in Sunday night's race. If Johnson wins the race, he will contribute an additional $4,800.
Johnson and his wife also will donate $48,000, regardless of the race outcome.
"We feel so bad," Johnson said. "When this hit, I've had my eyes on different charities. We need to support our own country. We want to give back. Hopefully, what we've done will help the NASCAR community see this."
The Greg Biffle Foundation announced it has set up a fund by launching an online eBay auction on September 12 to assist with relief efforts. Items that will be auctioned include seven-day trips to St. Bart's and Paris as well as autographed memorabilia from star athletes, actors and entertainers.
In addition to the auction, money can be donated to www.gregbifflefoundation.com.
Team owner Richard Childress is going to send 15,000 pounds of his Signature Sausage brand to the relief effort, and team sponsor Cingular is donating cellular phones and other equipment.
"We're doing all we can do," Childress said. "What money we raise, I'm going to match it from the race shop. We started raising money on Wednesday."
Penske Racing South, including drivers Rusty Wallace, Ryan Newman and Travis Kvapil, will display its support for those affected by Hurricane Katrina this weekend at California Speedway.
The team's three entries each will carry a decal on the driver's side B-post in support of those in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida who are suffering from the damage of the Category 4 hurricane that hit the Gulf region earlier this week.
The decal will be on the three cars for this weekend's SONY HD 500 as well as next Saturday's NNCS race at Richmond International Raceway. The team's ARCA entry also will display the decal next weekend at Chicagoland Speedway.
"We, as a team, have decided that it's time to give back some of the support that's been given to us," Penske Racing South President Don Miller said. "We know we have fans down there that are hurting right now. Anything we can do to help, we need to do."
Several members of the Penske Racing South family have been directly affected by the hurricane's wrath. Family members have been displaced with no immediate hope of recovery or closure.
Penske Racing South also has started a hurricane relief fund within its headquarters in Mooresville, N.C. The team will gather monetary donations throughout the next two weeks, with all proceeds being sent to the American Red Cross.
In addition, donations will be accepted at the No. 12 Alltel/Team Caliber Souvenir trailers as well as the No. 2 Miller Lite and the No. 77 Kodak/Jasper Engines Action Souvenir trailers throughout the next two NASCAR races.
Donations also are being accepted at the Penske Racing South souvenir store located inside the race shop and the North Carolina Motorsports Hall of Fame and Museum in Mooresville.
Palettes of Gatorade, a sponsor of the Penske Racing South teams, and energy bars were sent to the Gulf area earlier this week.
"Our emphasis here is not to gain attention or praise for what we're doing," Miller said. "We want to show everyone across the country that every penny helps. Everyone can be donating to the American Red Cross. We just want to gain awareness and support through our race team to help those in need right now."
Donations can be made to the Penske Racing South hurricane relief fund by sending a check or money order to Penske Racing South, P.O. Box 500, Mooresville, NC 28115, or calling The American Red Cross directly at 1-800-HELP-NOW.
California Speedway and San Bernardino County Fire are teaming up to raise money during the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series event at the speedway this weekend to benefit the American Red Cross relief efforts for the victims.
This "Race for Relief" effort will replace the "Fill the Boot" drive, which originally was scheduled for this weekend to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association. California Speedway and San Bernardino County Fire have agreed to move the "Fill the Boot" drive to the February NASCAR race weekend at California Speedway in 2006.