Founded by chaplain Max Helton in 1989, Motor Racing Outreach has been ministering to NASCAR drivers, teams and families for 35 years, providing community while sharing the message of Jesus Christ.
Completely donor supported, the ministry has become part of the heart and soul of the track and though it only involves four chaplains and four support staff people, what they have done over 35 years of ministry is well known and respected in the racing community.
MRO’s mission is to “introduce people to Christ, to help them grow in their faith in Christlikeness and then to be a part of the body of Christ — to church, to get connected in Christian fellowship,” said Billy Mauldin, who is currently serving his 25th year as MRO chaplain.
“The way that happens is that we are constantly present and available and accessible to the communities that we serve,” Mauldin continued. “We have the opportunity over time to build trust so that people are willing to open up and talk to us.”
MRO arrives at tracks across the country on Thursdays or Fridays of each race weekend. Their first task is to set up the community center so that drivers, families, crew chiefs and others have a place to go when they arrive.
The chaplains then make themselves available to anyone who needs them or wants to talk. They plan times and content for the several chapel services conducted. They are present on the grid before each race to pray for the drivers and their families. At the track, they also have men’s and women’s Bible studies that continue in race shops around the country offseason.
They baptize, officiate weddings, provide premarital counseling, do hospital visits and conduct memorial services.
“Basically, anything that goes on in a local church, we’re doing at the racetrack. We’re doing it in the garage, media centers and one trailer and tent — just trying to do everything we can to provide opportunities for discipleship, mentoring and even evangelism to a degree.
“We just don’t have a building. That’s the only difference,” Mauldin said.
Baptisms and weddings
Two of the ministries that Mauldin enjoys the most as an MRO chaplain are baptisms and weddings.
“One of the things we’ll do at Daytona for the summer/late fall race is baptisms for members of the community who would like to be baptized.
“It’s sort of a culmination of the amount of time spent in the garages, preparing for the chapel services or Bible studies or whatever the case may be. There’s just something special about baptizing somebody. And then when you do it in the ocean at Daytona at sunrise with the waves coming over you, it’s one of the best moments,” Mauldin said.
Anthony Alfredo, driver in NASCAR’s Xfinity and Cup series, has been part of MRO’s baptism services and a wedding ceremony, with both his wife and himself being baptized at Daytona and with an MRO chaplain officiating their recent wedding.
“So Motor Racing Outreach is actually super cool, just bringing church to the track for us and doing services for the garage area. We all love what we do for a living, but at this level of competition on Sundays it makes it hard to go to church, especially if you have a family.
“They always make time for us in all the series for the teams, the drivers, the officials — whoever it is — to go to service and learn something and share the gospel. It’s really important to me,” Alfredo said.
Community
Michael McDowell, a NASCAR driver since 2008, also loves MRO. He and his family participate in the Sunday chapel services, but what he loves most about MRO is how it gives his family community.
“Motor Racing Outreach is a way for me to stay plugged in but more importantly, it’s for my family — hanging out, spending time and doing community together,” he said.
Joking about those who say he has “like 400 kids,” he continued, “I don’t really have 400. I have five. But just them having a place to go and be at the racetrack is huge because our schedule is so intense and so tough.
“And it’s not just the weekend. Like this week, I left on Wednesday, went to Oklahoma to Love’s (McDowell’s main sponsor), then came here Thursday and had a Ford event. We’re going all the time. So having them here at the racetrack is what helps keep my family together and keeps me involved in the things that matter. MRO’s a big part of that,” McDowell said.
Mauldin feels “fortunate and blessed” in what he does.
“That’s why we go to the track each and every weekend — to help those who may not know Christ come to know Him and those who do know Christ to grow in their faith. Also, it’s to create Christian community, whether it’s at the track or back home at the race shops where groups can gather together around their faith.
“My hope and my prayer is that everybody finds some type of opportunity in their community and their lives to do something that they can get the joy and satisfaction of serving the Lord out of too.”
To learn more about MRO, go to motorracingoutreach.com.
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