Talladega race weekend always earns the title for the state’s most attended sports event, but the recent Talladega 500 and Busch Series Subway 300 topped its own record. And Alabama Raceway Ministries (ARM) made sure those record-number of fans had a cold bottle of water and a taste of the living water, Jesus Christ.
Almost 300,000 race fans invaded Talladega Superspeedway during the weekend of April 21–22 to watch Winston Cup racing at its finest and witness the third fastest race in NASCAR history. The 64th Winston Cup race held at the 32-year-old racetrack, the April encounter was race number 9 in this year’s series. Bobby Hamilton raced from behind to be the first to cross the finish line when the checkered flag swung down.
A 13-year racing veteran, Hamilton, who had not led a lap all day, passed Tony Stewart with two laps to go for the win in the caution-free race, only the second such race in Talladega history.
Almost three hours of 190-mph racing kept fans on their feet cheering the 43 drivers, who made 188 laps around the 2.66-mile track. But those three hours of speed were not all that happened during the weekend.
“Twice a year Talladega becomes the third largest city in Alabama,” said J.B. Burt, president of ARM and pastor of New Vision Baptist Church in Prattville. “How many churches do you need for more than 250,000 people?
“That’s what we try to do,” he said. “We are starting new ministries … concerts at night, ministries for women and children and (Royal Ambassador) RA racecar race offs.”
Currently, volunteers from across the state host five ministry sites around the track and offer six worship services the morning of the race in an attempt to provide a Christian witness and worship environment.
“We have a hospitality tent with food and entertainment such as country gospel singing and puppets,” said Luther Williams, director of missions for Coosa River Association. “We also give out testimony literature from the drivers (in the form of a sports magazine) and tracks,” he noted.
A popular item among fans is the racing schedule and Superspeedway map, both of which also contain the plan of salvation.
The fans come looking for these, said Williams, noting fans know to look for the green and white tent Coosa River sponsors as well as other sites sponsored by others. Volunteers this year came from New Vision Baptist, Prattville; First Baptist, Leeds; Woodmont Baptist, Florence; and other areas.
It is the consistent presence of ARM that has gained the fans’ trust, Williams said. “We have people asking where the worship service will be when they arrive,” he said. “We are trying to build bridges to the race fans.”
A total of 320 race fans attended worship at the six sites, according to Richard Alford, associate in associational and cooperative missions office at the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions.
David Love, a race fan who traveled from Soquel, Calif., said, “I appreciate the availability of the service being here. It gives me an opportunity to worship away from home.”
While the worship services are the major events for the volunteer groups during the weekend, the Friday and Saturday night concerts “seemed to have been the best evangelistic tool (this year),” said Alford, who works with the ministry.
“The family campground had Christian rock concerts on Friday and Saturday night with an estimated total of 350–400,” Alford said. “While we had no registered professions of faith, many at the concerts were asking questions about the words, and other things spiritual.”
Race security officer Scott Hassell, deputy sheriff for the Etowah County sheriff’s department, gave ARM high marks.
“I have been impressed because typically speaking NASCAR fans drink alcohol and raise sand. Most churches would be intimidated to come out here,” said Hassell, a graduate of Samford University’s Beeson Divinity School and bivocational pastor of Walnut Park United Methodist Church, Gadsden. “They would look on the fans as unreachable and a place they don’t want to be, but obviously the race fans respect you. They have responded real well.” Carol Ann Wells agreed. Registration supervisor for Shocco Springs Baptist Conference Center, Wells said the ministry has grown over the past eight years she has participated.
“There’s not another avenue in this area for so many unsaved people who come to the same place,” she said. “It’s crazy not to come here and meet them where they are.”
For more information, contact Alford at 1-800-264-1225.
Dry Valley deacon original Raceway volunteer
Harold Caudle saw the vision of Alabama Raceway Ministries (ARM) before it existed and has remained constant to the purpose through the years.
A security and safety officer for the Talladega Superspeedway since 1971, Caudle did not hesitate the day Baptist pastor Frank Stark asked for a volunteer to help him start a ministry for race fans.
It was 1982 and Stark, a volunteer in missions with the then-Home Mission Board, wanted a ministry ready for the October race.
Caudle, a deacon at Dry Valley Baptist Church, Lincoln, volunteered his church for the meeting and helped lead the effort.
Speedway officials responded positively to the idea.
While the ministry sites have grown to six currently and have moved several times to finally find permanent locations, Caudle continues to play a major role by patrolling the sites in the morning and at night when possible.
“Harold has opened doors here,” said ARM volunteer Richard Alford, who is with the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions. “All the full-time employees know him.”
Throughout his tenure at the track, Caudle has gotten to know not only speedway officials but also the drivers and crews. “I worked the garage gate from 1971 to 1982 and got to know a lot of the drivers like Bobby Allison, Donny Allison, Red Farmer and Marty Robbins,” Caudle said. “I even ate supper with Richard Petty during the last race he won here.”
Now that Caudle works in a fire and safety hub, he mingles more with the fans than the drivers, which affirms his decision to help start the raceway ministry.
“Everyone knows (we are here).”
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