Five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson may be in Charlotte, N.C., on Friday for the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, but he will definitely be at Clara Love Elementary School in Justin, Texas, in spirit…and vanilla and chocolate.
Johnson, who visited the school to crown the “Speeding to Read” champions from Texas Motor Speedway’s pilot educational program during the April NASCAR race weekend, held true to his promise to kindergarten student Kylie Watson during the assembly at the school that day.
During the Q&A session with the student body, Watson asked Johnson if he would bring them ice cream again just like he did when he was voted the school’s most popular NASCAR driver in 2010 by the students. The question made Johnson double over in laughter and brought a roar out of the 600-plus students and faculty on hand.
“How do you say no when a little kid is asking you for ice cream?” said Johnson, recalling the moment. “I know I can’t say no to it myself. I told the students that if they kept up with their reading I’d see what I could do.”
The Clara Love students held up their end of the deal as they have read nearly 2,000 books in the school’s 29 K-5 classrooms since Johnson’s visit on April 13. That amount of books read in a month’s time pushed the Clara Love students’ school-year total to 82,007 books.
Johnson and his sponsor Blue Bunny Ice Cream responded by sending enough ice cream for the entire student body and faculty to enjoy Friday during the lunch break of Clara Love’s annual Field Day on the school grounds.
“I’m thankful to Blue Bunny for agreeing to reward the whole school for a great job reading so many books,” Johnson said. “They definitely deserve some ice cream.”
Clara Love Elementary was thrilled when Johnson made the special visit to talk with the student body and hand out the championship trophies to the winning classrooms, and now they are overjoyed with his generosity.
“On behalf of the Clara Love students and staff, I want to send a Lil’ Texan ‘Hats Off’ and a big YEEHAW! to Jimmie Johnson for his generous gift of Blue Bunny ice cream treats to celebrate our winning season with the 2011-12 Clara Love 500 ‘Speeding to Read’ campaign,” Clara Love Elementary School Principal Julie Nerby said. “The competition was tough and with each turn on the track the number of books read for the year exploded. Thanks again to Jimmie and the staff at Texas Motor Speedway. We look forward to next year’s race!”
Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage will be on hand when Field Day kicks off 8 a.m. Friday as the school will honor him on behalf of the speedway for its community partnership with Clara Love through the “Speeding To Read” program.
“Speeding To Read” is an incentive-based, NASCAR-themed reading program created by Texas Motor Speedway to encourage students to read more frequently during the school year. Clara Love Elementary, which is less than five miles from the speedway, was selected by Texas Motor Speedway as the pilot school for this new program. The competition began at the outset of the school year in August and culminated in conjunction with the kickoff of the racing season at Texas Motor Speedway during the Samsung Mobile 500 NASCAR doubleheader weekend in April.
The students from the winning classrooms (K-2 and 3-5 divisions) each received four tickets to the race, gift bags, race programs signed by Johnson, at-track Q&A with NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Scott Speed and owner Bob Leavine and a special photo opportunity with the Samsung Mobile 500 trophy in Victory Lane.
TMS
- Abel Earns First Career Victory after Perfect Weekend - April 28, 2024
- TJ Kapish Wins Another Evergreen Raceway Enduro Picks Up Third Win In Past Three Starts - April 28, 2024
- Sunday’s Kokomo GP Called Off Due to Rain - April 28, 2024