Racing for Jesus
Read the Full Article at News2
Two decades ago, evangelicals took a tentative step forward in NASCAR-focused outreach. The year was 1988, and racing fan Max Helton was on staff at a church in Glendora, California, where he met Darrell Waltrip. Helton told the NASCAR legend, who has earned nearly $16 million in his career, of his own dream of full-time ministry on the racing circuit. –
Christianity Today reports That conversation spurred Helton to create Motor Racing
Outreach, a nationwide ministry that brings Christian witness and
discipleship to drivers, their families, and fans. Waltrip serves as
MRO’s board chair.
Waltrip is among a handful of
NASCAR’s elite who are open about their faith, including team owner Joe
Gibbs and drivers Kyle Petty, Michael Waltrip, and Mark Martin. At
tracks in Atlanta and Fort Worth, I found the faithful at the track,
the pit, the infield, and everywhere in between—in the quiet presence
of born-again drivers and crew, in well-attended chapel services, and
in Bible studies that introduce the curious to Christianity and
instruct believers in Christian living.