Drag racers take care of their own

Speedway competitors offer help to hurricane-riddled teams

Drag racers competing at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway over the Labor Day weekend took it upon themselves to aid fellow enthusiasts in Louisiana devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

While the Strip and its sister track, the Bullring, collected money to be donated to the American Red Cross Hurricane relief effort, local drag racers decided to raise money for a bracket racer and Junior Dragster team hit hard by the hurricane and subsequent flooding.

The fundraising effort was spearheaded by Chris Lamb, a local Matco Tools dealer and the father of 18-year-old bracket racer Justin Lamb and young Jr. Dragster driver Ryen Lamb. When he donated tools and diecast cars to be used as drawing prizes, a number of other businesses and race teams stepped up to the plate and the prize cache grew rapidly.

While drawing tickets were on sale at various locations around the Strip, local and visiting National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Jr. Dragster drivers went to work selling cookies and lemonade at a table near the officials' tower.

The selfless efforts of local bracket racers, NHRA Jr. Dragster competitors and visiting Pacific Street Car Association (PSCA) and California Independent Funny Car Association (CIFCA) drivers raised $2,095.52. The money raised will be divided equally and donated to two teams, a Louisiana-based bracket racer and a Gulf Coast-area Jr. Dragster racer who were wiped out by the devastating hurricane and flood.

"Think of what it would mean to a racer who has lost everything to receive a check from the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, to know that drag racers in another part of the country are thinking about them," Chris Lamb said.

Officials from the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will confer with the NHRA Division 4 director to locate two deserving recipients.

"This generous effort comes as no surprise to me," said Chris Blair, LVMS senior director of drag racing operations. "During Thanksgiving weekend, we hold a nonperishable food drive and our racers fill a truck with food for the needy and raise thousands of dollars to help those less fortunate.

"Drag racers take care of their own and they never fail to step up to the plate to lend a hand when needed."