HAVE YOUR PHOTO TAKEN WITH THE NEW NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES CHAMPION AT HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY!

Here’s your chance to capture an unforgettable moment with NASCAR’s newly crowned Champion! Bid today for your opportunity to have your photo taken with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion and the trophy following the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Homestead Miami Speedway on Nov. 22nd. This package includes an 8X10 photo of you with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion. 

*Must be 18 years of age or older to win and participate.

Bid now!

WAVE THE GREEN FLAG TO START THE NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES
CHAMPIONSHIP RACE AT HOMESTEAD MIAMI SPEEDWAY
ON NOVEMBER 21ST
Click here to bid!

This package includes:

• 2 Luxury Box Seats (3-day passes for all events)
  • Air conditioned facility with outdoor seats
  • Food/drink (2 meals per day)
  • Driver appearances including Richard Petty, “The King”
• Souvenir program and lanyard
• Track tour by Homestead Miami Track President Curtis Gray
• Wave the green flag to start the NASCAR Nationwide Series Championship race on Nov. 21

BID NOW!

Charlotte Race Weekend Experience winners Richard and Mariann of New Jersey attended the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Banking 500 only from Bank of America on October 17 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. In addition to having a blast at all the weekend festivities, Richard and Mariann were very excited to meet award-winning journalist and Sirius/XM NASCAR Radio host Claire B. Lang of whom they are longtime listeners!

Click here to find out how you can bid on similar experiences from The NASCAR Foundation!

Tune-in THIS WEEK to Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader to watch some of your favorite NASCAR Sprint Cup Drivers compete to raise money for The NASCAR Foundation and their favorite charities!

NASCAR drivers appearing on the show include:

David Ragan (10/26), Michael Waltrip (10/27), Kurt Busch (10/28), Denny Hamlin (10/29) and Carl Edwards (10/30).

NOTE: NASCAR driver episodes will appear on the first half hour of each episode.Check your local listings for show times.

From L-R: Dr. J. Wayne Meredith, Richard Childress and Mike Helton

NASCAR President and The NASCAR Foundation Board Member Mike Helton presented Richard Childress and the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma (CIPT) with a $100,000 grant from The NASCAR Foundation Thursday night during Richard Childress Racing’s 40th Anniversary dinner. Each year, approximately 12,400 children under the age of 18 die from traumatic injury, while at the same time, more than 30 trauma centers in the U.S. have closed their doors since 2001. The donation was made in an effort to continue funding the criticial research and physicians needed to counter this number one killer of children.

As part of a national campaign dedicated to increasing the availability of service opportunities throughout the country, ServiceNation, the first campaign of Be the Change, Inc., and the non-profit MyGoodDeed, co-hosted a commemorative tribute on September 11, 2009 at New York City’s Beacon Theatre, wrapping up the first officially-designated September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance.

The first National Day of Service and Remembrance tribute included special guest speakers including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, actor Gary Sinise and talk-show host Jimmy Fallon, among other elected officials, and featured musical performances by John Ondrasik, Gavin DeGraw, The Roots and the Harlem Boys & Girls Club Alumni Choir.

In an effort to support the overall mission and purpose of the National Day of Service and highlight her own organization’s commitment to serving its community, NASCAR employee and NASCAR Foundation Volunteer Network member Charmaine Perry served as an ambassador at the commemorative event. Perry described the evening as a way to not only continue to honor and pay tribute to 9/11 victims, survivors and their families, but also a way to recruit and encourage acts of service throughout the nation by promoting the overall spirit of volunteerism.

Perry hopes that her own work through the Volunteer Network will help to spread the message of volunteering throughout the rest of NASCAR.

In an effort to actively engage herself in volunteerism, Perry helped spearhead The NASCAR Foundation’s Fourth Annual Blood Drive at the New York office. The Blood Drive, held at 34 locations across the country on September 11, has become one of the largest national drives of its kind, helping to save thousands of lives since the program’s inception in 2006.

Through her attendance at events such as the September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance and her leadership role in the Foundation’s Blood Drive, Perry has truly raised the bar for volunteerism throughout the NASCAR family and beyond.

You can join The NASCAR Foundation Volunteer Network and start engaging in NASCAR-themed service projects. Click here for more information.

Employees at the NASCAR Office in Daytona Beach, Florida donned their pink in April to Go Pink for Susan G. Komen for the Cure as part of the Talladega race weekend festivities.  

NASCAR Fans came out to Richmond International Raceway today to give blood during The NASCAR Foundation Fourth Annual Blood Drive. NASCAR Drivers Kyle Petty came out to greet the fans who donated blood! All blood donors received vouchers for pace car rides around the track this evening.

Click Here to find a blood drive near you!

Champion Tire donated space on one of their haulers to help us promote The NASCAR Foundation Fourth Annual Blood Drive coming up on September 11th at most participating tracks. Here you see the hauler on display in the infield at Chicagoland Speedway! Keep your eye out for it on the road. Don’t forget to find your local blood drive location by visiting: www.NASCAR.com/Foundation 

Thank you to the 700 plus fans that joined us in Bristol for The NASCAR Foundation Track Walk!  Here is a fun picture submitted by Scott Miller and his buddies “Kissin’ the Bricks.”  If you’re going to be in Richmond, make sure to join us for a walk Celebrating America’s Heroes in remembrance of 9/11.  Click here for more info on the Richmond Walk.

The NASCAR Foundation and Speedway Children's charities are auctioning off parade lap rides with 27 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Drivers at the Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, September 6 through the Speedway Children's Charities Ride of a Lifetime online auction event.

Driver parade lap rides include Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton, Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Mark Martin, Jamie McMurray, Ryan Newman, Martin Truex Jr., Casey Mears, Brian Vickers, Joey Logano, Reed Sorenson, Scott Speed, Juan Pablo Montoya, Elliott Sadler, David Ragan and Bobby Labonte. Bidding will close beginning at 5:00 PM on Sunday, August 30th.

The winning bidder will have the opportunity to ride in the parade lap vehicle during driver introductions for the Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Prior to your ride along, the auction winner & a guest will receive a cold pit tour and the opportunity to take photos in your driver’s pit stall.  Winning bid does not include tickets, transportation or lodging.

CLICK HERE TO BID!

BRIAN VICKERS IS WALKING WITH US IN BRISTOLTHIS WEEKEND!

There's still time for you to register for the walk this weekend - visit our booth at the track in the Fan Zone near the dragway bridge to register. We'll be there Thursday from 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM, Friday from 9:00 AM - 7:00 PM and on Saturday we will be registering leading up to the walk starting at 8:00 AM at Gate 9.

See you in Bristol!

Rusty's Roast at Iowa Speedway was a success! Enjoy these pictures from the evening.

Stay tuned for pictures from The NASCAR Foundation Track Walk at Iowa Speedway next week!

We're roasting and toasting Rusty Wallace this evening at Iowa Speedway - a part of a weekend of events celebrating Iowa Speedway's first-ever NASCAR Nationwide Series event there.

Join us in celebrating by posting on our message board or by following updates from the event on Twitter. Follow us on Twitter @NASCAR_Foundat and post your messages to Rusty!

The answer to last week's first hunger poll is "all of the above".  Inadequate nutrition affects many aspects of kids' lives including: physical health, behavioral and mental health, child development, school readiness and achievement.

Find out how you can help The NASCAR Foundation "foodraise" and reach our goal of providing 350,000 meals for kids through Feeding America this summer.

Here’s an excerpt from a great story about some of our Wal-Mart NASCAR Day participants that was in The Rolla Daily News in Missouri!

“More than $1,500 was raised for the Victory Junction Gang Camp on Saturday during the first annual NASCAR Day Softball Tournament, held at NelsonHartPark and sponsored by the local Wal-MartDistributionCenter.

There were 10 teams in the slow-pitch, double-elimination softball tournament on Saturday. The Chadburries, a team from Nixa, defeated Sucker Punch Sally’s of St. Louis in the championship game.”

Click here to read the full story.

Having a softball tournament is a great idea for fundraising and getting your entire organization involved in NASCAR Day. Contact us at nascarday@nascar.com to get more ideas on how to fundraise on behalf of The NASCAR Foundation and our Family of Charities!

Send us your stories and pictures from your NASCAR Day fundraising event and you just may show up on the blog!

For our Chicagoland Track Walk  on Saturday, July 11 we’ve partnered with Feeding America and it is our goal to “foodraise” 350,000 meals with the help of NASCAR fans everywhere!  Here are some fast facts on Feeding America and how the NASCAR community can help kids in need:

• 1 in 8 Americans struggles with hunger – that’s 35 million Americans who don’t know where they will find their next meal
• Network members supply food to more than 25 million Americans each year, including 9 million children and 3 million seniors
• The rate of food insecure households with children is 15.6 percent
• According to the USDA, an estimated 12.6 million children lived in food insecure households in 2006
• The national office of Feeding America received about 615 million pounds of donated food and grocery products valued at $916 million wholesale in FY2008
• In recent years food banks have dramatically increased the amount of food they purchase to meet the needs of their community. 

Help us reach our goal of “foodraising” 350,000 meals by signing up for the Chicagoland Track Walk, “foodraising” online or making a direct donation.

Your contribution will help The NASCAR Foundation and Feeding America make a difference in the lives of children who need it most.

Here are pictures of the winning bidder from the "Dover Golf with Celebrities" auction package which included the incredible painting seen in the pictures.  We've always got new and unique items and experiences up for bid on our auction site and the best part is- proceeds benefit our industry charities!

Place your bid now and keep checking back for more items!

Thanks to everyone who came out and participated at last Saturday's Dover Track Walk!  We all had such a fun time and wanted to post pictures of some of the wonderful fans and NASCAR celebrities that came out to support The NASCAR Foundation and our Family of Charities:

Hope to see you at next Saturday's walk in Pocono! Visit the Track Walk page for more details and to pre-register.

To kick off "track walk season", our Photo of the Week is a great picture from one of last year's track walks.  Participating in track walks is a fun way to see the tracks first hand and to have the chance to interact with participating NASCAR celebrities...not to mention raising money for The NASCAR Foundation and its Family of Charities!

Join your favorite NASCAR celebrities this Saturday at The NASCAR Foundation Track Walk presented by Hock Foods!  Walk the mile-long, high banked Monster Mile and have the opportunity to interact with a star-studded list of participants: Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Joey Logano, David Ragan and Darrell Waltrip will participate on behalf of Motor Racing Outreach; AJ Allmendinger and Reed Sorenson will join the legendary driver Richard Petty to represent the Petty Family Foundation; Greg Biffle will participate on behalf of the Greg Biffle Foundation and Fox Sports and SPEED broadcaster Krista Voda will represent Autism Delaware.

In a battle of who can raise more money, the husband and wife duo of Ryan and Krissie Newman will walk separately this year for the Ryan Newman Foundation.  Ryan will represent the Racing for Wildlife program, while Krissie has sided with the Humane Alliance’s National Spay/Neuter Response Team.

Visit The NASCAR Foundation hauler in the FanZone display area outside of Turn 4 to register on Friday, May 29 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or Saturday, May 30 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Registration at the track is $35 and children 14 and under walk free with a registered adult.

A pre-walk kick-off will be held at approximately 6 p.m. at the SPEED Stage in the FanZone.  This thrill of a lifetime is a “can’t miss” for any fan at the Monster Mile on Saturday, May 30^th following the Nationwide Series race.

The NASCAR Foundation has another one of a kind auction item up for bid!  Tony Stewart's autographed, race-worn fire suit from the All-Star race this past weekend is on our auction page!  This fire suit is from Tony's first ever win with Stewart-Haas Racing and is a must-have for any Tony Stewart fan or collector.  100% of the proceeds from this auction will benefit Victory Junction Gang Camp through The NASCAR Foundation.  Bid to donate now before this item closes!

We had such a great weekend celebrating NASCAR Day with our 2009 spokesperson Kevin Costner!  On Saturday, he performed a pre-race concert with his band Modern West and they were incredible!  Kevin also met with some students we brought to the track who are participating in a motorsports program at Phillip O. Berry High School in Charlotte, NC.  He did a meet & greet with some auction winners, signed autographs and spoke during our Radiothon on MRN (1-877-515-GIVE to donate!).  A big thanks to Kevin for serving as our 2009 spokesperson for NASCAR Day!  Here are some pictures from the weekend:

Here's this week's photo!  Send your captions to cathompson@nascar.com!

Enjoy celebrating NASCAR Day tomorrow!

Check out all the awesome pictures we got at Darlington last weekend with the NASCAR Day pin!

Thanks to our Ambassadors who got all these great pictures!  Look for another NASCAR Day pin photo tomorrow in our Photo of the Week!

Starting Monday, you can sign up at the front desk for advance lap time reservations.  Who will be the pole sitter? It could be you!

Ward Burton and The Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation have been working hard to teach kids about wildlife conservation!  Interested school systems receive customized curriculum coordinated with the WBWF and Virginia Tech.  Students then get to go on field trips, camping trips and participate in all kinds of hands-on activities like water quality data collection.  Recently, a local middle school spent the day with Ward at his foundation's property called "The Cove"!

Learn more about The Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation at www.twbwf.org and send your captions for this week's photo to cathompson@nascar.com!

Join Greg Biffle and Tony Stewart as a vest friend to K9 dogs across the country! Greg and Tony have partnered to help Vest N Police Dog Protection provide bullet-resistant and knife-resistant vests for K9 officers located throughout the United States. Through grassroots efforts, Susie at Vest ‘N P.D.P. has already provided 317 vests to police dogs in 34 states. Now, Greg and Tony are urging their fans as well as supporters of our officers and their K9s to support this Charity Splits raffle running now through June 14, 2009.

Last summer the Tony Stewart Foundation awarded a grant to Vest ‘N P.D.P. providing 40 bullet-resistant and knife-resistant vests for all 30 dogs of the Indiana State Police K-9 Unit and 10 additional dogs from Georgia, New Mexico, North Carolina and Minnesota. Tony presented the vests to the Indiana State Police during the Allstate 400 Brickyard. Tony invited Greg to partner with him in this incredible effort. “It’s a great fit for our Foundation since we support animal welfare groups across the country,” said Greg. 

Today, Susie has 175 K9 ‘officers’ in 37 states waiting on vests. Departments rarely have allocations for purchasing these custom-made vests, ranging from $1,200 to $1,500, for each dog. Susie expressed, “My efforts are a small price to pay for our police dogs that protect their human partner as well as our communities.”  

Greg and Tony are asking their fans to team together in support of Vest ‘N P.D.P. and our brave law enforcement officers – two-legged and four. Click here to donate to this great cause and enter the raffle! 

This week's photo is of Ambassador Nancy Brinker posing with Paul Menard at Talladega Superspeedway last weekend prior to the Aaron’s 499. The Yates Racing crew all wore pink in honor of NASCAR Day going pink for Susan G. Komen for the Cure!  Send your captions to cathompson@nascar.com and I'll post them for everyone to see!

The last few weeks we’ve done a lot of brainstorming with our Family of Charities on some exciting auctions for you all to bid on. We’ve got lots of great items and experiences for you to enjoy and the money you donate goes straight to The NASCAR Foundation and our Family of Charities! 

A few weeks ago we highlighted an exciting experience to join AJ Allmendinger on the No. 44 Go-Kart team for the "KING'S CUP - KARTING FOR A CAUSE" charity event! This experience closes tomorrow and the winning bidder will receive a ton of great stuff including a meet & greet with Richard Petty, AJ Allmendinger and Reed Sorenson! Proceeds from this auction will benefit the Paralyzed Veterans of America.

Speedway Children’s Charities has also worked with us to launch several different experience auctions for the Coca Cola 600. These experiences include:

• An exclusive invitation for you and a guest to attend the champagne toast with the race winner
• Attend the Team Fanzones with a guest
• A pace car ride for you and two friends around Lowe’s Motor Speedway
• Tour the #29 team hauler and NASCAR Garage with Ford Martin
• Tickets for you and a guest to watch the race from a luxury suite and visit Victory Lane to join the celebration with the race winner

We’ve also got autographed die casts from Kyle Busch and Richard Childress and a few remaining Daytona 500 street pole banners autographed by Matt Kenseth! Be sure to keep checking the Foundation auction site because we’ve got more great items coming soon!

Hurry and bid today before these incredible items close!

Become a NASCAR Day Crew Chief and get more involved with the Foundation!  Sign up for your FREE NASCAR Day kit and collect $5 donations from your friends, family and co-workers.  You can participate as a company or an individual and help those who need it most.  We make it easy and fun for everyone to get involved!  Here's a great example of someone who has become very involved with the Foundation and was featured in our last newsletter:

Mona has been involved with the Foundation through NASCAR Day, track walks and volunteering for several years.  Her favorite drivers are Dale Jr. and Tony Stewart and she lives closest to Talladega Superspeedway, which is her favorite race.  Mona first found out about NASCAR Day online and on television when it was launched in 2004.  She ordered that first pin online and has been participating ever since.  Mona decided to become involved with NASCAR Day because she felt it was "an opportunity to do great work and raise money for the sport I love."  Her favorite part of being a NASCAR Day Crew Chief is getting to introduce people to the Foundation who haven't heard of it before and explaining what the NASCAR Day pins are all about.  To celebrate NASCAR Day this year, Mona said her Official NASCAR Members Club chapter will be collecting donations for pins at a local track.  This exceptional NASCAR Day Crew Chief enjoys helping others and likes what the Foundation stands for.  Mona also enjoys the great perks of being a Crew Chief, like "getting to rub elbows with Mike Helton!"

Click here to become a NASCAR Day Crew Chief and help those who need it most.

We have been working hard alongside Sunoco to communicate with APlus at Sunoco locations about NASCAR Day.  Here is a list of APlus at Sunoco locations that are signed up to participate.  If a location near you is not participating you can either order your pin online or you can contact cathompson@nascar.com.  Be our secret shopper and keep us posted on which APlus at Sunoco locations don't have their pins- send store address and location to cathompson@nascar.com.  Thank you all for your feedback and please continue to let us know if you experience problems trying to get your pin.