It’s not often you really get to surprise a group of people… Tuesday, March 13th was one of those days. I was in Charlotte, North Carolina for the official announcement of our NASCAR program with Quicken Loans and Stewart-Haas Racing. We were fortunate that the team had arranged for the big announcement to be made on SPEED’s NASCAR Race Hub television show. I invited a few of the local NF Hero families to join us at the studio where they could meet the driver and see the car in person. I didn’t tell them anything about what they would be doing – they were simply asked to join us for a special Racing4Research event at the SPEED studio.
Three families from the local area joined us at SPEED midday for the taping. They all arrived eager to know what they would be doing and it was a thrill to share with our young NF Heroes that they would be meeting NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Ryan Newman and could sit in the No. 39 Children’s Tumor Foundation / Quicken Loans Chevrolet on the Race Hub set. The smiles and excitement on their faces was priceless.
Our group watched the segment taping on the in-studio feed and after they completed the filming, the families were able to go into the Race Hub studio to meet Ryan Newman. Ryan was incredibly gracious to our families, helping each of the children into the No. 39 car so they could feel what it’s like to sit in a real NASCAR Sprint Cup race car. One of our little NF Heroes, 3-year-old Sawyer, was happy to show Ryan his prothesis and to show off his “driving skills” behind the wheel of the No. 39.
From the perspective of the Children’s Tumor Foundation and our Racing4Research program, it was a tremendous day. We were able to announce that Children’s Tumor Foundation will be featured on the No. 39 during the upcoming NASCAR race in Sonoma, CA on June 24, 2012. Quicken Loans and Stewart-Haas Racing have set the goal of raising $390,000 for the Foundation with the “Fuel The Cure with Ryan Newman and the Children’s Tumor Foundation” campaign. As with all of our R4R events, our Heroes are the heart of our program and it was a thrill to share such a unique day with three inspiring, amazing NF Heroes and their families.
Be sure to tell your friends and family about the “Fuel the Cure” campaign – more information can be found at www.fuelthecure.org. And stay tuned in the coming days for details about the race in Sonoma where we will all FUEL THE CURE for NF!
Jill Beck
Director, Racing4Research program
