Our NASCAR Friends

Being big NASCAR fans, we keep an eye and ear out and would like to give a special mention to those teams and drivers that help in promoting organ donation...

With Mark being an Arkansas native, we've always kept an eye on him. But early in the 2001 season, our focus on the #6 team changed a little. We heard during one of the race broadcasts that Tara Parker was in need of a heart transplant. Tara's husband, Shawn, is car chief and tire changer for the team.

We began to watch and listen for updates every week on Tara's condition. We searched the internet for news and found a group of equally concerned friends and fans on the Roush Racing - Mark Martin Bulletin Board. Our thoughts and prayers went out to Tara and Shawn and messages of support and encouragement were posted on the board each and every day. During many of their races, the crew of the #6 car worn green ribbons supporting Tara and organ donation.

In July, Tara celebrated her 27th birthday - still waiting. We sent her birthday greetings, letting her know we were praying and thinking about her. Tara honored us by visiting 'Claine's Corner and leaving a message on our guestbook.

Scott Radal - Jackman for the #6 team
wearing a green ribbon for organ donation awareness.
from: NASCAR Winston Cup Scene (July 26, 2001)

Early in the morning of July 28th, Tara got the call she had been waiting on. The loving gift of a grieving family would give her a new heart and a new lease on life. Shawn was away with the rest of the #6 team at Pocono Raceway preparing for a race. Team owner Jack Roush personally flew Shawn back to North Carolina to be with his wife.

Tara came through the surgery and the recovery well and went home in early September to continue her recovery and hopefully, a long normal life.

Thank you Tara and Shawn for sharing your story and lives with us.
Thank you to the Fox Sports and the NBC/TNT/CNNSI Sports Broadcasting Teams for taking the time to tell us about Tara and her need for a new heart and for keeping us updated.
And thank you Mark and Jack for realizing life is more important than racing and for all your help and support for Tara and Shawn.

We'll be watching and wishing Kurt and Shawn, and - of course - Tara the best of luck throughout the season.

Kurt Busch ended the 2002 season on a definite high note, winning 3 of the last 5 races! Kurt and the #97 team finished the season in third place in the Winston Cup standings, collecting over $3.7 million in winnings.

As the season came to a close, however, Shawn left the #97 team to take over the car chief duties with #38 M&M's Ford of Yates Racing and driver Elliott Sadler for the 2003 season.

In 2003, we'll follow Shawn over to the #38 team and how they do in search of Elliot's second Winston Cup win.

This former #28 team is no stranger to victory lane and running well, finishing 10th in the points standings in 2002.

We're anxious to see how this team - with a new driver, a new number, a new sponsor, and a new car chief - comes together, and we're hoping to see Red and Yellow - and Elliot and Shawn and the rest of the #38 team back in victory lane.

In May of 2003, Shawn moves over to become stable-mate's Dale Jarrett's new crew chief.

Even though he won't be driving the big brown truck, we'll still follow Dale and Shawn and "see what brown can do for us."

July 6th - We share in the joy as Shawn and Tara welcome a new member to their family, adopting their first child - a son - Jagger Alexander Parker after he was born at 7:05am/et, weighing in at 6 pounds and 12 ounces and 20 inches long.

September 10th - Our hearts go out to Shawn, Jagger, and their family as Tara and her two sisters, Megan Howell and Mysti Howell Poplin are killed in a tragic auto accident. Dale Jarrett's words convey our feelings and those of many that "knew" her: "...she was just a wonderful person that's going to be missed tremendously."
Even after her death, Tara continued to be a proponent for organ and tissue donation with every news story making prominent mention of her long wait for the heart transplant she received in July of 2001.

Shawn left the Yates Racing team at the end of the 2003 season,
but we will continue to follow and will always wish he and Jagger the best.

For 2004, Shawn joins the Ultra Motorsports Craftsman Truck Series team of Ted Musgrave.

Ted has finished in the top three the last three years in the Craftsman Truck Series point standings and always a serious contender for a win and the championship.

We wish Ted and Shawn and the rest of the team "Good Luck!" in 2004 and look forward to seeing much success from this team.

During the prerace show before the Michigan BGN race, while Kerry Earnhardt was being interviewed as the driver of the #99 car for the weekend, I noticed a Donate Life decal prominently displayed on the "B" pillar (right behind the driver or front passenger window) of the Aaron's car.

I watched the entire race, hoping to hear a mention of the decals by the broadcast team, but sadly, Kerry never ran quite well enough to get a lot of TV time.
After the race, I did a little research on the internet and learned a little more about those decals and the reason behind them.

Kerry's mother-in-law, Rebecca Cline, is needing a heart transplant. The decals are in support of organ donation awareness and LifeShare Of The Carolinas, an organ procurement organization serving parts of North and South Carolina.

Thank you Kerry and Michael for your efforts in helping raise awareness of organ donation needs.
Thank you to Aaron's for giving the space for these decals on the car.

The C.F.Sauer Company and Swansboro Motor Company, Inc., will field an all-Virginia team for the 2002 Winston Cup season. The Richmond-based companies named Rick Mast, the Rockbridge, Va. veteran Winston Cup and Busch Grand National racer as driver of the #90 car. The C.F. Sauer Company's brands are Sauer's, Dukes', Bama, Spice Hunter, Gold Medal, and Mrs. Filberts.

In addition, three non-profit charity affiliates will be involved in promotional efforts of the #90 team. The charities are the United Network for Organ Sharing, the Richmond based non-profit that manages the nation's organ transplant system; Victory Junction Gang, a retreat for seriously ill children founded by Kyle and Pattie Petty and new member of the Hole in the Wall Gang Camps founded by Paul Newman; and the Winston Cup Racing Wives Auxiliary, which was established in 1965 to provide aid to Winston Cup families suffering injury or tragedy as a result of preparation or participation in Winston Cup events.

After finishing in 40th place in the 2001 team standings and failing to make the 2002 Daytona 500, the #90 team will struggle to make the race each week in 2002. But we will be watching and rooting for them each week, and we will celebrate each start and each finish with this team.

Thank you to the C.F.Sauer Company - Conrad F. Sauer IV, President and CEO and Junie Donlavey - owner of Swansboro Motor Company for this selfless demonstration of their care and concern for those in need. Please help support their efforts by remembering the C.F. Sauer Company's brands when you shop and by helping us root on driver Rick Mast and the #90 team each week!

After failing to find a full-time sponsor for the second half of the 2002 season (the Sauer sponsorship was only for the first half), and due to the illness of primary driver Rick Mast (carbon monoxide poisoning), the #90 team competed in only 14 of the 36 races in 2002. Driver Rick Mast announced his retirement from racing in January of 2003. Junie Donlavey continues to keep his racing shop open and is searching for sponsorship, but currently has no plans for returning to Winston Cup competition.

Once again, thank you Junie and Rick.
We wish you the best in whatever the future holds for you!

Although, as far as I know, Dale never made any special efforts to help promote organ donation, we still consider him a special friend and want to remember him here.
Enough though we never met, he still came to our home almost every Sunday and entertained us. He made us cheer and root, kept us on the edge of our seats, and even, at least one time - February 1998 at Daytona - made us cry - for joy.

Dale's death at that same race in February 2001 brought the tears again - but no joy.

Dale's reputation on the track - the "Intimidator" - was aptly earned, but when time came to shut off the engine, a different man climbed from the car. His priorities were different - God and family and friends. The majority of his fans only slightly knew this man, but after his death, his family and a number of friends shared what they remembered about Dale - again and again he generously gave of his time and other resources to help those around him - never wanting anything in return or even the least acknowledgement.
It has been suggested that Dale gave up a second Daytona 500 win - and ultimately, his life - protecting a 1-2 finish for a very good friend, Michael Waltrip and his son, Dale Jr.
It is almost like two men died that day - the "Intimidator", the driver of that jet-black #3 Monte Carlo, the 7-time Winston Cup Champion and Dale Earnhardt - husband, father, and friend.
Both were great at what they did, and both will be greatly missed.

Katey is my little "racing buddy" - even though she's partial to the McDonald's car - it doesn't matter who drives it, as long as it has that "golden arch" on it.
Second only to the McDonald's car, Katey knew that black #3 and that was Dale's car, but not just "Dale's" - "Dale Earnhardt's" car.
I talked to her about what happened to Dale - how he had died and gone to Heaven to be with Jesus and that he wouldn't be driving the #3 anymore. We talked about his family and I showed her pictures of Teresa and Kerry and Kelly and Dale Jr. and Taylor Nicole.

We had been working with Katey for a while trying to get her to say a bedtime prayer. She wanted everyone else to say theirs, but when it got to be her turn, she always backed out.
But the night Dale died would be different - for the first time, she actually wanted to say her prayers.
She said a prayer for Dale and for his family and for "Dale's sissy".
After several nights of praying for "Dale's sissy", I finally had to ask her who "Dale's sissy" was.
She said, "You know, that little girl." She was talking about Taylor Nicole.
I talked to her about Dale being Taylor's daddy and that Taylor was his daughter, not sister. But her prayer didn't change, she only added to it. Now she prayed for "Dale's sissy" "because she misses her daddy and he won't be racing any more and he's up in Heaven now because he died."

Until a little "angel" whispered in my ear - just like I had heard from her sisters after building their cars, "but Daddy, I want to play with it."

When Dale died, I thought about that car once again, and I remembered sitting across the room from Katey, rolling her car back and forth between us.
Then I could just see Maclaine - and Dale - sitting up there on those streets of gold rolling that black #3 Goodwrench Chevy between them.
Looks like 'Claine has a new playmate.

Thank you Dale for all the years of showing us how to be a Champion - on the track and off.
You and 'Claine have fun until we get there!

The Michael Waltrip Racing #99 Aaron's Dream Machine & driver Kerry Earnhardt - Michigan BGN Race