Sunday no day of rest for Christians sharing the gospel at motor speedway_82304

Posted: 8/20/04

Sunday no day of rest for Christians
sharing the gospel at motor speedway

By Sarah Farris

BGCT Summer Intern

JUSTIN–The sounds of Sunday fill the air at Texas Motor Speedway. Engines roar, fans cheer and tires squeal. And in the middle of it all, volunteers with Texas Alliance Raceway Ministries share the gospel.

In 1996, Baptists in Denton, Tarrant and Wise counties learned plans were in the works for a 1.5-mile super-speedway that could accommodate more than 230,000 fans per event.

Seeing an opportunity for ministry, the three associations consulted the National Fellowship of Raceway Ministries and began Texas Alliance Raceway Ministries with the help of the Baptist General Convention of Texas Missions Equipping Center.

Randy Denbow (right), a volunteer with Texas Alliance Raceway Ministries, serves coffee to an employee at Texas Motor Speedway. Texas Baptists' gifts to the Mary Hill Davis Offering helped launch the ministry.

The group is geared toward spectators, racers and staff at Texas Motor Speedway, north of Fort Worth.

One central event occupies the NASCAR racing subculture–the race on Sunday, said Roger Marsh, chairman of the racing ministries.

“Some people travel to every race,” he said. This means people could travel 20 to 30 weeks per year. “Church is not in their minds.”

From the beginning, the ministry's organizers wanted to reach this large group on its turf.

The organization received seed money from the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions and continues to receive yearly contributions from the fund and participating associations.

“Without the financial support, we couldn't do what we do,” Marsh said.

The racing ministry accomplishes its mission with an array of outreaches and odd jobs.

Before Sunday races, volunteers hold a chapel service on the campgrounds of the speedway, and at each race, Marsh says the invocation.

Volunteers also throw children's carnivals, host concerts with Christian bands, orchestrate handicap transportation, assist emergency medical personnel as chaplains, and deliver bottled water and coffee to speedway employees, just to name a few ministries.

Speedway officials have “learned that our volunteers love people,” Marsh said. This year, the racing ministry was asked to be in charge of staffing the speedway's information booths, where they were allowed to display Christian literature and tracts. This was also the first year speedway officials received no complaints about the workers at the booths.

Speedway officials “never hesitate to call us,” Marsh said. He attends pre-event planning meetings and works closely with officials at the speedway year around. When a second Nextel Cup race was awarded to Texas Motor Speedway, President Eddie Gossage publicly thanked participants in the racing ministry for their prayers. Gossage was concerned that praying for a second race was selfish, but Marsh said it would give the group a second opportunity to minister to a large group of fans.

The Nextel Cup race, held at the speedway in the spring, is one of the largest sports events in the world, second to the Indianapolis 500.

While demographics of racing have changed over the years, it is the camaraderie between fans that gives volunteers opportunities for ministry. Auto racing used to be considered a sport for blue-collar males, but it is quickly becoming a family event popular with a large number of women and children.

The sport boasts fans from every step on the socio-economic ladder. A wealthy corporate executive could be camping next to a stereotypical middle-class NASCAR fan, Marsh said. “Before you know it, they'll be eating barbecue together. … Distinctions melt at the campground.”

The most powerful means of reaching fans is through racing personalities, Marsh said, citing a number of drivers and team owners who are dedicated Christians. Because NASCAR fans are so committed, linking a fan's favorite driver to his faith is a natural transition for racing ministry volunteers.

The group keeps records of ministry involvement, but Marsh has learned of people who were impacted without its knowledge.

“One night at about 9:30, two guys came in the (racing ministry) tent, just looking around,” Marsh reminisced. One man was showing another man around, and he finally introduced himself to Marsh.

The man explained he had seen the tent a year before, and when he did, he was convicted on the direction his life had taken. After the race, he checked himself into a Christian rehab program. The man he was showing around was his pastor. He told Marsh it was important that his pastor saw “where everything had begun.”

In eight years, Texas Alliance Raceway Ministries workers have distributed 11,239 bottles of water and 292,411 pieces of literature. Chaplains have helped 279 people.

But the most important number to organizers of the ministry is 58. That's how many came to Texas Motor Speedway to watch a race and left knowing Jesus.