Two weeks ago a group of NASCAR personalities converged on Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington D.C. for what has now become an annual visit. NASCAR President Mike Helton joined team owners Richard Childress and Jack Roush as well as Sprint Cup drivers Kurt Bush, David Ragan, Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth and others to visit wounded soldiers and their families.

  It was clear that NASCAR’s visit was a welcome break for servicemen and women undergoing rehabilitation and recuperating from injuries sustained in Afghanistan and Iraq. But while the visitors possessed celebrity status, it was unanimous among the NASCAR cadre that they were not the one’s who should be lauded. “The sanctioning body has created the opportunity for patriots like myself who are in the NASCAR trade and part of the NASCAR community to come up here and express our appreciation for, our thanks for, and getting grounded on really what it means to be an American and realize the sacrifices that are being made by the people serving in the military,” Roush said. “I’m humbled just to the point of my inner strength with what I see and the attitude and the realization of what the sacrifices have been. (To) look at these young people and hear them relate what their ambitions are, what their motivations are for picking up their lives and going forward.”

  Ragan, driver of the #6 UPS Ford, was making his fourth visit to the hospital. “It’s just an honor to come here and hang out with the men and women that serve in our military and the ones that are injured,” he said. “See how they act, see how they’re encouraging and it gives us a sense of pride to be an American.”

  The visit was to provide support for the recuperation soldiers but it was clear the inspiration ran both ways. “It means a tremendous amount to me,” Biffle said. “I’ve been coming here for six years now. It’s inspiring to see all the men and women that have defended our freedoms and our country, to see what they’ve sacrificed.”

  For Biffle, driver of the #16 3M Ford, the visit to Walter Reed was a quick way to put life into perspective. “You think you’ve had a bad day or a bad week or had a bad finish or something happens and it’s like, ‘Oh man, it’s just terrible’,” he said. “To see what you suffer and what you’ve gone through and to see some of these men and women and what they’ve gone through, they’ve got a lot longer road. Then some of those things become so petty, the things you worry about, when you come and see what these guys have to worry about.”

  Making his first visit to Walter Reed, newly named Richmond International Raceway President Dennis Bickmeier was left virtually speechless. “It’s actually hard to put into words,” he said. “To see their spirit and their drive to get better- I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

  Over the years, NASCAR has shown solid support for the military and Roush believes there is a clear reason why the two have formed a such close bond. “I think that the NASCAR fan and the NASCAR participant and certainly the sanctioning body are among the most patriotic of Americans,” he said. “We appreciate as much as any of our countrymen what the sacrifices are of everybody that serves in the military. They put their private lives aside and their chance for financial well-being aside and go off and do this thing.”

  Among those contributing to that sacrifice was US Army Captain Joshua Peyton. Peyton carefully protected his right hand as he made his way among the NASCAR celebrities.

  During a July 10 patrol in Northern Iraq, Peyton nearly lost his hand in the town of Erdil when his vehicle rolled over. He counts himself among the more fortunate soldiers at Walter Reed. Though injured in the line of duty, Peyton also found being at Walter Reed an eye-opening experience. “You’ve got upwards of 35,000 soldiers, 1300 plus amputees. I was very lucky,” he said. “I was an epidermis away from being an amputee myself. So being here puts things in perspective for you.”

  The South Carolina native grew up a Jeff Gordon fan 45 minutes from Darlington. However, Peyton is not only a fan of NASCAR but a fan of sports in general. From his high school athletic days through lettering in baseball at West Point (1999, 2001) Peyton formed the belief that all of athletics play a vital role in the mental well being of the military and emphasized the importance of NASCAR’s regular visit to the hospital. “It’s pretty amazing that sports has a way of unifying soldiers,” he said. “It gives everyone a common ground to talk about.

  “Being involved in the infantry is about the closest thing I can get to sports, except obviously we’re playing for higher stakes,” Peyton said. “But sports, NASCAR, football, NFL- it matters to the soldiers a lot more than the public can probably understand. The sports world stays the same. It doesn’t matter what country you’re in. It doesn’t matter what war you’re fighting. Sports stay. It gives you a sense of home. It’s very important to my soldiers and very important to me.”

  NASCAR’s visit to Walter Reed also focused attention on the fact that the September 9-10 races at RIR will fall on the 10th anniversary weekend of 9-11. “We all remember that day like it was yesterday,” Biffle said. “It’s the only thing that’s happened in my life that I know specifically right where I was and what was happening, where I was standing.

  “That’s certainly on our minds and we know that’s what a lot of this,” he indicated the hospital behind him, “has led from. People trying to attack America, the United States. These guys have gone out and defended us.”

  Likewise, the anniversary brings even more attention to Bickmeier’s first race at Richmond. “It’s hard to believe we’re 10 years removed from what touched off a lot of this, what we’re seeing and why we’re here visiting these soldiers and everything,” he said. “We always have a patriotic feel to our event and all of the NASCAR events have that, but it will be extra special for us.”

  September 11 changed the world forever and for Roush it also changed the way he signs his name. Since the twin towers fell, Roush has signed thousands of autographs, always adding a USA beneath his signature. “I figured that when the terrorists had taken out the towers, if they want to come back and take out somebody, they can come see me first,” he said.
 
  The Virginia 529 Savings Plan 250 takes place Friday, September 9 at RIR. The Wonderful Pistachios 400 marks the Last Race to Make the Chase on Saturday, September 10.