2012s Record $1 Million Fundraising Campaign Next Weekend
Racing4Research's biggest year of racing, partnership support and fundraising continues in second half of the season with programs in NASCAR, Pirelli World Challenge and GRAND-AM for the Childrens Tumor Foundation fight against Neurofibromatosis (NF)
NEW YORK (July 19, 2012)The Childrens Tumor Foundation (CTF) Racing4Research program, which uses auto racing to build awareness and research fundraising for the fight against Neurofibromatosis (NF), kicks off the second half of its biggest year of racing, partnership support and earned donations next weekend in both the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West and at the inaugural Brickyard Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The unique CTF Racing4Research program is on track for a record $1 million in donations this year with a total of $700,000 having already been earned through a busy and diverse racing program in the first six months of 2012. Donations to CTF Racing4Research can be made directly at www.Racing4Research.org.
Neurofibromatosisor NFis a common yet under-recognized genetic disorder that causes tumors to grow on nerves throughout the body. The disorder can lead to blindness, bone abnormalities, cancer and excruciating and disabling pain. Found in one of every 3,000 children born, NF is a more common disorder than many more widely known illnesses, including cystic fibrosis and Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Racing4Research began five years ago as an annual fundraising campaign at the GRAND-AM Road Racing Rolex 24 At Daytona but 2012 has seen CTF expand into additional racing events and other series for the first time. The hectic but rewarding first half of the season began with the most successful Rolex 24 At Daytona effort to date and concluded late last month with the first Racing4Research initiative in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series when Ryan Newman raced the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet in an eye-catching Childrens Tumor Foundation livery at the Toyota/Save Mart 350 in Sonoma.
As we begin the second half of the 2012 racing season, our program has never been busier or more successful, said Jill Beck, Director of the Racing4Research program for the Childrens Tumor Foundation. We are literally on track to raise $1 million in critically needed research funds this year but couldnt have even dreamed about that if it wasnt for an ever growing group of teams, drivers, series and corporate partners that have joined us in our ongoing fight against NF. A lot of work is still needed to make 2012 the record-setting success we know it will be but we have no doubts our goal will be reached considering the great people and outstanding partners in our corner.
Quicken Loans, the nations leading online lender, donated one of its nine 2012 race title sponsorships of the No. 39 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevy to CTF for the Sonoma race and also joined eBay Motors and eBay Mobile as major backers of the No. 4 eBay Motors/eBay Mobile/Quicken Loans/Racing4Research Porsche GT3 at the Rolex 24. That effort alone, with Daniel Graeff, Ron Yarab, Ryan Eversley and Justin Bell at the wheel, raised $600,000 for the Racing4Research cause.
It was huge, and the true pride we felt to be part of a major NASCAR weekend with a program that began with humble beginnings with just a single decal on a sports car at a very important endurance race just a few years ago was incredible, said Graeff, who is a founding Racing4Research driver and a member of the organizations Board of Directors. We have built the Rolex 24 program into a marquee effort with major-league sponsors in the form of eBay Motors and Mobile and Quicken Loans but to be able to transfer that just a few months later to the biggest motorsport arena in America by way of NASCAR was really something to behold.
A key part of the program at most races, CTF/R4R hosted more than 100 NF patientsor Heroesand their families at Sonoma. Even better, the Heroes and their families are directly involved in the CTF/R4R donation efforts in kind of a race before the race that sees the top fundraisers actually earn the chance to attend an event, many for the first time.
Auto racing has been tremendously successful for the CTF, we have really found a model that works, it raises money, it raises awareness, Graeff said. What a race represents, figuratively for the kids and families, particularly the endurance aspect of the Rolex 24, surviving and doing well, never quitting despite setbacks and challenges that happen in the course of any race, thats a big metaphor. It works well for CTF; it is an important life lesson at every race.
As big and as successful as they were, the Rolex 24 and NASCAR Sprint Cup programs were just part of the picture in the first half of the season. Bell has been a top contender with the championship-winning Tiger Racing team for Racing4Research in the Pirelli World Challenge, and began the season with back-to-back GTS class victories in the No. 50 eBay Motors/eBay Mobile/Racing4Research Tiger Racing Ford Mustang Boss 302S on the streets of St. Petersburg.
Eversley has returned this year with top Honda team Compass 360 Racing in the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Challenge and joins his teammates in carrying CTF/Racing4Research colors at every race. Graeff has also expanded his R4R racing program beyond just the Rolex 24 for the first time and made the Sonoma weekend complete in Saturdays NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race when he made his NASCAR debut in the GSR Racing No. 07. Graeffs K&N ride displayed the identical CTF livery of Nemans No. 39 Chevy.
We were really able to really leverage what was happening on Sunday with Ryan Newman and the Quicken Loans Chevy, Graeff said. The No. 39 and Stewart-Haas Racing provided at tremendous platform for us and the idea was to leverage that with a program on Saturday as well when there also happened to be a fairly large crowd of some 40,000-plus people. That was what made it really worthwhile. To get that many eyeballs looking at a CTF-liveried stock car for two days in a row in a major media market, with television coverage of both races reaching people at home, was a major coup for us. We were able to make the weekend a total NASCAR weekend for NASCAR fans that hopefully became acquainted with and recognize what we are trying to do through racing on behalf of the Childrens Tumor Foundation.
Graeff and CTF/R4R are set for a second K&N Series start next weekend on the oval track at Colorado National Speedway, another step in what could be an expanded program in the NASCAR series in the near future.
I think definitely extending this program in the K&N series is well on the agenda and it could be a big part of our future plans, Graeff said. We are looking at least another race, hopefully two more, and really trying to mirror what K&N does on the Saturdays before the NASCAR Cup shows. Thats really the best thing for us because thats when there is a captive audience there, those big weekends. We are looking right now at Phoenix at the close of the year in addition to doing a little down and dirty short track race in Colorado at the end of July.
While Graeff is supporting the CTF cause in Colorado, Eversley, teaming with Ray Mason, will be racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Friday afternoons Continental Tire Challenge race at the inaugural Brickyard Grand Prix in the No. 75 Childrens Tumor Foundation/Columbus Truck/HPD Honda Civic SI. All four Compass 360 Hondas entered for Indy carry the CTF logo, including the No. 77 Luna-C Clothing/HPD Civic SI that longtime Eversley teammate and CTF/R4R supporter Lee Davis will co-drive with Sarah Cattaneo.
Bell is scheduled to start the second half of his racing season for CTF/R4R at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, August 35, where he will return to the wheel of the No. 50 eBay Motors/eBay Mobile/Racing4Research Tiger Racing Ford Mustang Boss 302S. Bell is returning to the Mustang for the first time in two months after lead team driver and reigning Pirelli World Challenge GTS Champion Paul Brown put the car on the podium with a third-place finish in the most recent event at Mosport.
We are in our fifth year and our program, like so many others, is a grow or die kind of thing, Graeff said. Stasis doesnt exist in life, it doesnt exist in business, it doesnt exist in fundraising and it certainly doesnt exist in racing, so you have got to always be moving forward and taking on new and bigger challenges in order to see it succeed at a higher level. Definitely the expansion we are seeing now in year five of the CTF Racing4Research program is indicative of this process and I expect great things, we are expecting great things, in the next five-year period. Within GRAND-AM and the Rolex 24, within NASCAR, within the World Challenge and with these great sponsor partners we have.
Donations to CTF Racing4Research can be made directly at www.Racing4Research.org.
About the Children's Tumor Foundation and Racing4Research: Developed by the Childrens Tumor Foundation, the Fuel the Cure and Racing4Research (R4R) programs utilize competitive, professional auto racing as a vehicle to increase awareness of neurofibromatosis and raise funds for research through corporate sponsorship, personal donations, and individual fundraising by NF Heroes: children and adults from around the country who live with neurofibromatosis. NF affects one in every 3,000 children, more than cystic fibrosis, Duchenne muscular dystrophy and Huntingtons disease combined, and can lead to a wide variety of complications, including blindness, bone abnormalities, cancer, deafness, disfigurement, learning disabilities and excruciating and disabling pain. The Racing4Research program offers children and families living with the disorder a uniquely empowering weekend, and has raised over $2 million dollars since its inception five years ago. Donations can be made at www.Racing4Research.org.
