This Weekend with Daniel Graeff and Creation-Cope Racing at Langley SpeedwayGraeff and Racing4Research Set For Langley and NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Debut with Creation-Cope Follows Pair of Pro Series West Races Last YearThe Childrens Tumor Foundation (CTF) Racing4Research (R4R) program and driver Daniel Graeff will return to NASCAR K&N Pro Series competition this Saturday night, June 22, at Langley Speedway where Graeff and Racing4Research will partner with Creation-Cope Racing in the No. 73Chevrolet Impala.Graeff and the unique Racing4Research program, that uses motorsports to build research funding for the fight against Neurofibromatosis, will be making their third NASCAR K&N Pro Series start and first in the East division after running a pair of West division races last year.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. Donations to CTF/R4R can be made directly at www.Racing4Research.org.Racing4Research began six years ago as an annual fundraising campaign in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series Rolex 24 At Daytona race but the program expanded beyond sports car racing last year for the first time. This included NASCAR K&N Pro Series competition in which Graeff, who is a founding Racing4Research driver and a member of the organizations Board of Directors, raced at Sonoma and Colorado National Speedway.We are happy to be back in NASCAR K&N for our first Pro Series East race against some of the best teams and drivers in the country, said Graeff, an experienced oval and road course driver. We are proud to be competing at Langley Speedway while representing the Childrens Tumor Foundation Racing4Research program and our visiting families from throughout Virginia. It all comes down to turning laps for our amazing NF Heroes who put the real power into our program.Appropriately named for their tireless courage in fighting the disorder, NF Heroes are the brave young people battling NF who instantly become a source of inspiration for the teams and drivers racing in their support. Graeff and his Creation-Cope teammates are scheduled to meet and mingle with a new group of Virginia-area NF Heroes and their families next weekend at Langley.We are looking forward to more stock car racing for the CTF Racing4Research cause and learned last year that our program certainly has a home in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series arena, said Jill Beck, Director of the Racing4Research Program for the Children's Tumor Foundation. Auto racing has been hugely successful for the Childrens Tumor Foundation, from racing a Porsche for 24 hours on the road course at Daytona to competing in a short track Saturday night stock car event. Langley should be a great event for Racing4Research and we are grateful to everyone who has made this possible.Graeff grew up racing Late Model stock cars near his hometown of Bakersfield, Calif., but has been a lead driver in the Rolex 24 sports car program since its inception. He made his NASCAR K&N debut at the Sonoma road course last year before returning to his short track roots a month later at Colorado National Speedway."We are very excited to welcome Daniel Graeff and the Children's Tumor Foundation to the Creation-Cope team for the Langley NASCAR K&N race, said Creation-Cope Racing Team Manager Andy Woolgar. As an experienced race car driver, Daniel comes from quite a diverse motorsport background but I think that will help him adjust to a heavy stock car and the relatively flat surface Langley offers up. I think what Daniel and CTF do to help bring attention and awareness to the cause is highly commendable, and I'm sure the visiting children and their families will enjoy a memorable occasion."Noteworthy
- The No. 73 Creation-Cope Racing Chevrolet Impala Graeff will race carries a number familiar to CTF/R4R. The Childrens Tumor Foundation Park Place Motorsports Porsche GT3 that races in support of the R4R cause in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series with drivers Patrick Lindsey and Patrick Long also runs the No. 73.
- Long and Lindsey scored a fifth-place finish for CTF in the No. 73 Porsche in Saturdays GRAND-AM Rolex Series Diamond Cellar Classic at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course but another longtime member of the CTF driver family had an even better day at the Buckeye road course. Ryan Eversley took the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Street Tuner (ST) championship lead for the second time this season with a third-place finish in the No. 76 Compass360 Racing Honda Civic Si in the ST race earlier on Saturday with co-driver Kyle Gimple. It was a great day for us, Eversley said. It was good to get the Childrens Tumor Foundation back up on the podium and get us back in the points lead for the ST championship. This year CTF has had podiums in a lot of big races, they are doing great over in World Challenge, we are leading the points here and theres been some success in the other programs too. It has been excellent, and you never know who you are going to see and influence at these events, even when we dont have the NF Heroes and their families with us. Thats why we do it and hopefully we will get some good TV time and exposure to help spread the word about the CTF cause. Its all about the greater good.
