CORNELIUS, N.C. – NAPA AUTO PARTS NASCAR Sprint Cup team co-owner Michael Waltrip made a special delivery last night in Colorado.
Through a week-long initiative, he along with his NAPA Racing driver Martin Truex Jr., helped their sponsor raise more than $72,000 through a NAPA KNOWS HOW TO CARE campaign. The proceeds will help victims of the wildfires which swept across Colorado last month.
Waltrip, NAPA management and local store owners delivered the check during ceremonies before Saturday night’s NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race at Colorado National Speedway. An additional check will be presented with the proceeds raised by online, local NAPA store efforts and at-track fundraising. Waltrip drove the No. 55 NAPA KNOWS HOW TO CARE Toyota in the event to raise awareness for the NAPA KNOWS HOW TO CARE program.
“Last night I had the opportunity to show the great people of Colorado what NASCAR is all about,” said Waltrip. “We collected donations from fans and partners and delivered a message of support. Those fires cost more than $60 million to fight and burned more than 225,000 acres of land and they needed our help.
“I loved racing in the K&N West Series event and it was a big weekend for NAPA. We hosted almost 700 guests there. We wanted to do more than race, we wanted to help heal.”
Truex said raising money for the wildfire victims fits with NAPA’s effort to assist people in need.
“NAPA has done some great things helping families with the NAPA KNOWS HOW TO CARE program and I’m really proud to be able to join in helping the people of Colorado,” said Truex. “We have race fans all over the country and I know some of our fans lost their homes and personal belongings. They will have to rebuild and this is our small way of helping out.”
Waltrip signed autographs at a NAPA fundraiser for the disaster relief fund on Friday at the NAPA Denver Distribution Center. NAPA provided free hamburgers and hotdogs to the public. All donations made in person at the fundraiser, Colorado National Speedway, making PayPal donations to the American Red Cross at www.michaelwaltripracing.com or texting “RED CROSS” to the number 90999 contributed to the effort.
“The wildfires have had a big impact on our state,” said Will Rogers, District Manager of NAPA AUTO PARTS Denver Distribution Center. “Many of our friends and customers lives have been changed by this tragedy. This event was NAPA AUTO PARTS way of helping those in need and saying thank you to those who have risked their lives fighting these fires.”
“When disaster strikes, it’s hard to determine how to help, so we just hoped by hosting this event and utilizing our resources we could help make a difference,” said Scott Carlson,
General Manager of NAPA AUTO PARTS Denver Distribution Center.
For more information about the race weekend’s events contact: Kelly Lingerfelt, 704.717.9400 x 116, Kellyl@rsmbiz.com
NAPA (www.napaonline.com) was founded in 1925 to meet America’s growing need for an auto parts distribution system. NAPA has grown to more than 6,000 NAPA AUTO PARTS stores and 64 distribution centers with more than 400,000 part numbers in inventory and more than 13,000 NAPA AutoCare and AutoCare Collision Centers nationwide.
