Facing the Race of your Life

Before the drop of the first flag, volunteers are reaching race fans with the gospel

By Wendy C. Brown

“Gentlemen, start your engines!” Brightly painted cars screeched into the first turn, and then the second. By the fourth turn you could almost hear hearts pounding as the crowd went wild. Cars continued to race by at blurring speed, when one man’s heart—pounding with the crowds—literally stopped. For him the real race was only just beginning.

First responders were on the scene in seconds administering CPR, keeping the man alive until Emergency Medical Services personnel could arrive and fly him to the nearest medical center. Fearing the worst, his frantic family fought through the mass of people, trying to find their way out of the Bristol Motor Speedway. That’s where another team of responders was waiting to transport the man’s family to the hospital and provide spiritual counsel and support over the next several days. The man survived hours of bypass surgery. Weeks later those same responders took the man and his family to the airport to leave one race weekend they’d never forget.

These responders are a team of more than 400 people in Bristol, Tennessee, who make up part of what’s known around most major racetracks in America as Raceway Ministries.

Building relationships: a vital link

“We try to earn the right to share the love of Christ, and we do that through service,” says Tom Elam, director of Bristol Raceway Ministries. “You go up and befriend people. You get to know them, you care for them, and in the process it opens doors to share the love of Christ.”

Through outreach and worship services in 12 campgrounds, hospitality tents outside the Speedway, as well as chaplain teams stationed at each of the four track turns inside, Raceway Ministries touches the lives of thousands each year who come to the Speedway for the thrill of the race. Fans begin arriving up to two weeks before each race weekend filling campgrounds and hotels. They find faithful volunteers ready with snacks, race information, Bibles, and most important, the opportunity to build relationships.

Volunteers are able to begin friendships that lead to opportunities to plant the seeds of Christ’s love. An estimated 85 percent of those who come to the campgrounds for race weekends will return the following year, making relationships a vital link between volunteers, fans, and the good news of Jesus Christ.

Sowing seeds of the gospel

Throughout the week, that good news is delivered through worship services held at campgrounds where 3,000 or more race fans attend these celebration events. Every person who attends is requested to fill out a decision form. “We know that everybody makes a decision,” says Tom. “It may be, ‘I’m not going to do anything with this’ or it may be ‘I want to turn my life over to Christ.’ Either way, fans are encouraged to deal with the greatest race of their lives, deciding what to do with Jesus Christ.”

At hospitality tents, volunteers hand out race schedules and New Testaments, along with personal testimonies of NASCAR drivers like Bobby Labonte, Darrell Waltrip, and Kyle Petty. Schedules have all the pertinent information a race fan will need including dates and times of all events. On the back of the schedule is a clearly written presentation of the plan of salvation.

Charlie Jones, a Bristol Raceway Ministries volunteer, remembers what took place near one of those hospitality tents. Charlie had been driving a golf cart distributing supplies to chaplains inside the Speedway. While gathering another load for distribution, he found his golf cart wouldn’t start. Trying several times to get the cart going, Charlie was about to quit when ministry director Tom Elam spoke up. “God’s not through with you here. Stand there and let God use you.”

Somewhat frustrated and eager to get back inside with supplies, Charlie prayed, “Okay, Lord, use me out here. What am I supposed to do now?” With thousands of people pouring into the concourse, Charlie turned and immediately caught sight of a man reading one of the ministry’s testimony sheets. This man would read a little and stop; looking confused. After watching him do this several times Charlie, much like Philip approaching the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8, went to him and asked, “Do you understand what you’re reading?” Shaking his head the man said, “These Christian race drivers talk of their daily walk with Jesus. I don’t understand how Jesus makes that kind of difference.”

Charlie explained to him the difference Jesus made in his own life and how everyone needs a Savior. Right then in that huge crowd the man accepted Jesus, and his life was forever changed. Charlie walked back to the golf cart, which started on the first turn of the key. Charlie still reflects on that divinely appointed meeting.

Meeting people where they are

Back inside the Speedway, Charlie supports the chaplains’ work. Strategically placed at each of the four turns, their first responsibility is to assist fans in need. From tending to physical illnesses such as heart attack and dehydration, to locating children separated from their parents, each chaplain is highly trained to respond to a variety of urgent situations. They receive medical training from local Emergency Medical Services volunteers and first responder training provided by the Tennessee Baptist Convention.

Camp and hospitality volunteers also are highly trained to show the love of Jesus Christ to everyone they meet. Regardless of what condition fans are in, Raceway Ministries volunteers are available to love them and live the love of Christ before each one. “In Bristol, if they crawl in because they’re so plastered from drinking, we still love them,” says Tom. With arms outstretched and ready to hug or even help carry someone home, volunteers know that to love like Jesus means to get their hands dirty and do whatever it takes.

One volunteer remembers a clean cut, nicely dressed man who approached him near a hospitality tent and asked the question so often heard, “Do you remember me?” Somewhat embarrassed the volunteer replied, “I’m sorry, I don’t. Should I remember you?” The man laughed and said, “Probably not. Last year you found me in a severely drunken state. I was filthy and smelled of all sorts of trouble. You talked to me about Jesus, and even in the inebriated state I was in, I somehow understood, and you helped me pray the sinner’s prayer. Today I’m a changed man.”

Spiritual change is exactly what Raceway Ministries is all about. Reaching beyond one single race event to touch eternity, volunteers consistently lead people to see how Christ can start the coldest hearts.

Says Tom: “Someone has said that a year or two from now no one will remember who came in first or second, but they will remember a changed life.”

Wendy Brown lives in Cleveland, Tennessee, and attends Valley View Baptist Church.

Go where the people gather

From the green flag at Daytona to the final checkered flag in Homestead, the NASCAR season is one of the longest in professional sports and attracts millions of fans. Mission Service Corps missionary Frank Stark knew he needed to go where the people gather to share the gospel, and he saw them gathering at racetracks. After serving several years as a pastor, Frank began his ministry to race fans in Atlanta, Daytona, and Talladega in the 1980s. He has been instrumental in founding numerous raceway ministry groups, as well as the National Fellowship of Raceway Ministries (NFRM). In addition, Frank has served as chaplain of the ARCA series, and as chaplain at local raceways and speedways in Missouri.

Today Raceway Ministries boasts almost 2,000 volunteers nationwide with ministry teams at every speedway where the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series competes. “We probably have about 100 teams that cover the smaller, weekly races and dirt tracks throughout the U.S.,” says Roger Marsh, executive director of NFRM (www.racewayministries.com).

Race ministries range from worship services to one-on-one conversations. “I’ve even done weddings and funerals at the track,” says Roger. “A lot of people center their lives around the NASCAR circuit, and the only time they come in contact with the church and hear the gospel is when they meet one of our volunteers at a race.”