WELCOME, N.C. — More than 1,900 U.S. Military vets and active members are taking a memorable ride with Austin Dillon during an upcoming NASCAR race.
The names of those who've served or are currently active will be displayed on the car as Dillon makes his way around Road America Motorsports track.
Today Richard Childress Racing unveiled this year's car with hundreds of local veterans in attendance.
Although Richard Childress wasn't in attendance today, Welcome, North Carolina's very own Austin Dillon was there. He was taking pictures and swapping stories with some of the veterans whose name is on the side of his car.
"It's cool to hear them talk about their memories. You can just feel what they were going through just a little bit, but it's unrelatable because you don't know what those feelings were like... It's powerful, it's very special, those are the true heroes. A lot of fans look up to what we drivers do, but those are the true heroes."
This is the first time since 2019 that Richard Childress Racing was able to put this event on in person, and the hometown kid turned NASCAR star loved every minute of it.
"I love when you see different people coming up trying to find their names on the car. I tell him, I hope there's no bumping and I wipe your name off the car. Just trying to keep that one clean as we can, and hopefully, we can get to the front. Definitely a little motivation with all the veterans on the side."