NASCAR teams raise funds for paralyzed veterans
Richard Petty waves the green flag for the King's Cup karting event Tuesday in Mooresville, N.C. // David Griffin, NASCAR Scene
MOORESVILLE, N.C. – How does Richard Petty start a kart race to support team sponsor Paralyzed Veterans of America? Well, “Gentlemen, start your engines” didn’t really seem to be right. So he said, “Crank ‘em up!” and the event got started.
The four-hour “King’s Cup” race at The Pit in Mooresville, N.C., generated funds to help the charity. Several NASCAR Sprint Cup competitors showed up, including Richard Petty Motorsports drivers Kasey Kahne, AJ Allmendinger, Elliott Sadler and Reed Sorenson, Penske Racing’s Kurt Busch and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin.
Kurt Busch’s foundation won the event, which raised $60,000. Among the other driver foundations that helped support the event were the Jimmie Johnson Foundation, the Dale Earnhardt Jr. Foundation, the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation and Kasey Kahne Foundation. Penske Racing, Richard Petty Motorsports and Brad Keselowski Racing also sponsored teams.
“The Paralyzed Veterans don’t get a lot of PR, and our main concern was to get them some PR because people donate money to it – this is not a government-sponsored operation, and a lot of people don’t know that,” Petty said. “This was something to make some money but also bring some awareness so when people in the grandstands see the car or see PVA, they understand that these people need help.
“These are the people we are trying to look after that had been looking after [us]. We’re trying to help them get back into society, not just say, ‘Thank you for what you’ve done’ and push them off somewhere.”
