Josh Richards NCWTS Martinsville Speedway Advance

SPECIAL MILITARY-THEMED PAINT SCHEME AT MARTINSVILLE:

Josh Richards will run a special paint scheme at Martinsville Speedway this weekend to highlight artwork created by Alexandra and Hunter Vogel of Mooresville, N.C. The children’s artwork was created to honor the U.S. Navy SEALs and warriors who lost their lives fighting terrorism in Afghanistan on August 6, 2011.

The NSW Community tragically lost 22 members on August 6. The fallen included Navy SEALs, Explosive Ordinance Disposal warriors, information systems professionals and cryptologic specialists. Along with these naval personnel, members of the Army aircrew, Air Force personnel and Afghan partners that fight with our soldiers every day were also lost in their efforts to serve our country.

Growing up as part of a Navy family, nine-year-old Hunter and seven-year-old Alexandra crafted artwork to show support for the Naval Special Warfare (NSW) families who lost loved ones on August 6. Hunter and Alexandra have since had their artwork made into stickers and have given them away to remind people of the sacrifices these and other warriors make every day. As a result, many of those who met Alexandra and Hunter and heard their story have made donations to the Navy SEAL Foundation, in turn making donations to the widows and children of the warriors who lost loved ones in that August 6 battle.

Richards met Hunter and Alexandra in August and has since had their special sticker on his Joy Mining Machinery Toyota Tundra in Bristol, Atlanta and Kentucky. Richards’ partner Joy Mining Machinery was impressed by the story, and the company decided they would help Richards to extend Alexandra and Hunter’s message. The company created a special paint scheme and generously donated the hood branding on Richards’ entry for Saturday’s NCWTS race at Martinsville Speedway to further showcase Alexandra and Hunter’s effort and artwork.

Alexandra and Hunter Vogel, their family and guests from the Navy SEAL Foundation and the NSW community will attend the NCWTS race at Martinsville on Saturday as special guests of Richards and Joy Mining Machinery.

A website was created to help get the word out about the stickers and their fundraising effort. For more information, please visit www.NSWKids.com. To make a donation to the Navy SEAL Foundation, go to www.NavySEALFoundation.org.

KYLE BUSCH MOTORSPORTS AT MARTINSVILLE:

In four combined starts at Martinsville Speedway, Kyle Busch Motorsports Tundras have earned one pole and three top-five finishes while leading 92 laps of competition. KBM Toyotas have completed 100 percent (956 of 956) of laps contested at Martinsville Speedway. Team owner Kyle Busch has tallied two runner-up finishes in his last two attempts at the .526 mile Virginia track.

JOSH RICHARDS ON THE SPECIAL SEALs PAINT SCHEME FOR MARTINSVILLE:

“It was an honor to meet Hunter and Alexandra Vogel and to be a part of their effort to honor the Navy SEALs and warriors who gave their lives fighting terrorism. Their effort to honor the fallen has become a fundraiser for the Navy SEAL Foundation, and the widows and children of those who lost their lives on August 6. It’s such a privilege to have their artwork on the hood of the Joy Mining Machinery Toyota for the race this weekend at Martinsville and to have Hunter, Alexandra, their family and guests from the Naval Special Warfare community at the race with the our team. Joy Mining Machinery generously donated branding for this race, and I really appreciate what they’ve done to help with this fundraising effort that Hunter and Alexandra started with the NSW Kids sticker campaign.”

CREW CHIEF RICK REN ON TRANSITIONING FROM TALLADEGA TO MARTINSVILLE:

“Going from the high speeds at Talladega to short track racing at Martinsville is going to be a big change for Josh. The pace lap speed at Talladega was 70 mph, and at Martinsville they aren’t racing too much faster than that on green flag runs. One big change is pit road. It’s totally different at Martinsville. You have to learn to drive to a certain point and braking, throttle position and timing are key. The most important thing at Martinsville is to not hit the curb. It’s really easy at Martinsville to hit the curb and then jump in front of traffic and get spun out. Martinsville is a track where if a driver is a hard charger, he usually doesn’t run well there. At Martinsville, you’ve got to attack the track, but you can’t attack it aggressively. One of the cool things about NASCAR is that there are no two tracks that are exactly alike. They all have their own character.”

Rising Star Management PR