BROOKLYN, Mich.–Saturday’s Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course takes place in the back yard of Columbus-based series title sponsor Nationwide Insurance, and NNS teams have embraced the title charity in the debut of the series’ first visit to the 2.4-mile road course.
Collectively, 13 different cars–those driven by Brian Scot, Austin Dillon, Trevor Bayne, Regan Smith, Elliott Sadler, Sam Hornish Jr., Justin Allgaier, Parker Kilgerman, Travis Pastrana, Alex Bowman, Brian Vickers, Marcos Ambrose and Michael Annett–will pay homage to the cause with prominent placement in their respective paint schemes.
All told, teams have donated more than $650,000 in stock car “real estate”–meaning positioning on hoods, TV panels, names above doors and full cars–to call attention to the mission of the Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Each participating driver is paired with a hospital patient for the race.
After the event, drivers will sign hoods and other sheet metal from their cars, with the memorabilia to be auctioned online through the NASCAR Foundation.
“As the title sponsor of the NASCAR Nationwide Series, we’re pleased to help bring this race to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course as a way to demonstrate our passion for both NASCAR and Nationwide Children’s Hospital,” said Matt Jauchius, Nationwide’s chief marketing officer. “Nationwide Children’s Hospital touches lives around the world, providing critical care for young patients, regardless of a family’s ability to pay.
“We can’t thank the racing teams enough for getting behind this weekend’s race–13 drivers, including 10 of the top 11 points leaders, will have Nationwide Children’s Hospital represented on their cars.”
JR Motorsports produced a time-lapse video of the “wrapping” of Smith car in fluorescent pink zebra stripes and stars, available through the link: http://www.nascar.com/en_us/news-media/articles/2013/08/14/paint-scheme-preview-michigan-mid-ohio.html.
Vickers has pledged to match donations made through his page on the hospital web site up to $2,000. Fans can access the driver pages through the following links: http://www.nationwidechildrens.org/brian-scott; http://www.nationwidechildrens.org/austin-dillon; http://www.nationwidechildrens.org/trevor-bayne; http://www.nationwidechildrens.org/regan-smith; http://www.nationwidechildrens.org/elliott-sadler; http://www.nationwidechildrens.org/sam-hornish-jr; http://www.nationwidechildrens.org/justin-allgaier; http://www.nationwidechildrens.org/travis-pastrana; http://www.nationwidechildrens.org/parker-kligerman; http://www.nationwidechildrens.org/alex-bowman; http://www.nationwidechildrens.org/brian-vickers; http://www.nationwidechildrens.org/marcos-ambrose; http://www.nationwidechildrens.org/michael-annett.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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