Michael Waltrip Racing.

NAPA KNOWS HOW TO CARE

TRUEX JR. HELPS REPAIR CAR OF RICHMOND FAMILY IN CANCER FIGHT
BEGINS “NAPA KNOWS HOW TO CARE” PROGRAM IN RICHMOND

NAPA AutoCare Centers Collecting Names of Organizations, People In Need of Vehicle Repair
 

RICHMOND, Va. - No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota driver Martin Truex Jr. will make more than 200 pit stops during the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, but he served as crew chief for one of the most memorable pit stops of his career on Thursday in Richmond, Va.
 
The pit stop had nothing to do with racing, but the handshakes and smiles afterward will surpass any 14-second stop in Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Richmond International Raceway.
 
The NASCAR star visited Carroll’s Auto Services in Richmond today to supervise the pit stop for the Nanette Smith family whose car had fallen out of repair. Truex and the shop employees put on new NAPA brakes and made some general repairs to the 10-year-old vehicle.
 
Smith, 48, is waging a six-year battle with breast cancer and the accompanying radiation and chemotherapy treatments while she and husband Lee raise their two teenagers. During the day, she’s a hospice worker helping families deal with the emotions of illness – something she’s learned to master through her own experience.
 
“Because of cancer I’ve had a lot of wonderful things happen to me,” said Smith. “I mean that. I’ve had support from friends, family, my church family and people I don’t even know. It’s because of that support that I am still here. You have to keep it in perspective and not let it be the center of your life. All along I have depended on my family and my doctors but it’s God whose taken care of me.”
 
Even with an incredible attitude and good medical coverage, Smith and her husband Lee admit the out-of-pocket expenses to fight cancer “cost a small fortune.”
 
The money the Smiths would have spent on Thursday’s work can now go toward paying some of the bills that Smith said, “don’t stop coming just because you have cancer.”
 
That wasn’t lost on Truex.
 
“They may have it rough right now but they are rich when it comes to attitude,” said Truex, who will host the Smiths in his pit before Saturday night’s race.
 
“We are very lucky in NASCAR. We get to do what we want for a living and we are well compensated for that. We know times are tough right now and the Smiths could use a hand. They are really good people and we had the opportunity to help out a little bit. We fixed up their car, put on new NAPA brakes and saved them some money they could use to spend on other things.”
 
Thursday’s pit stop for the Smith family will be the first of about 56 similar events in Richmond kicking off the NAPA KNOWS HOW TO CARE program that runs through October. Richmond NAPA AutoCare Centers will accept nominations from customers of deserving families or organizations that could use a brake repair and vehicle tune up similar to the work done for the Smiths.
 
Smith asked her community to let their local NAPA AutoCare Center know of those that might need assistance.
 
“I tell people even though I might have cancer it’s still business as usual,” she said. “I hope people will give the names to the NAPA stores and they can get help like we did today.”