{"id":25916,"date":"2019-05-23T09:35:03","date_gmt":"2019-05-23T14:35:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=25916"},"modified":"2019-05-25T11:21:49","modified_gmt":"2019-05-25T16:21:49","slug":"nascar-tribute-to-fallen-servicemembers-takes-on-personal-meaning-for-jtg-daugherty-engineer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2019\/05\/23\/nascar-tribute-to-fallen-servicemembers-takes-on-personal-meaning-for-jtg-daugherty-engineer\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR tribute to fallen servicemembers takes on personal meaning for JTG Daugherty engineer"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Each Memorial Day weekend NASCAR Salutes introduces the sport and its fans to a long and esteemed list of fallen heroes – servicemen and servicewomen who have given their life while protecting our country.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Chris Buescher, driver of the #37 Kroger Thrill of the Grill Chevrolet, practices for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 23, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

The sport memorializes and honors them on this solemn holiday weekend featuring some of the world\u2019s iconic races \u2013 a prime opportunity to show gratitude for these brave members of the military.<\/p>\n

\u201cNASCAR has always taken immense pride in honoring the military men and women who\u2019ve bravely served our nation,\u2019\u2019 NASCAR President Steve Phelps said. \u201cEach year, NASCAR Salutes unites our industry to celebrate these heroes and their families and recognize them for the sacrifices made to preserve our freedom.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

For the No. 37 JTG Daugherty Racing team\u2013 the connection between the sport and a hero is especially close. The valiant person being honored by the team \u2013 Army Sgt. 1st<\/sup> Class David Moore \u2013 served eight years of his long and decorated career in the Indiana Army National Guard Unit where he was an officer and mentor for the No. 37 team\u2019s lead engineer, Brian Burns.<\/p>\n

Moore died February 4, 2008, of injuries he sustained while deployed in Iraq. And Burns couldn\u2019t be prouder to have the opportunity to honor his late friend and former colleague this weekend in the Monster Energy NACAR Cup Series\u2019 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (6 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means a lot, he was kind of a mentor when I was younger and first got into the military so it was  pretty neat to give back to the family and let them know how much I appreciated him and how much he affected me in my youth and made me a better person,\u2019\u2019 said Burns, who served with Moore for eight years in the Army National Guard.<\/p>\n

Burns, who enlisted as a teenager in 1993 to earn money for a college education through the GI Bill, was assigned to a National Guard unit in Washington, Indiana, where Moore was an officer, a leader and a mentor.  And an inspiration.<\/p>\n

The two men served alongside one another in the National Guard unit for most of a decade before Burns attended college at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI).  He earned his engineering degree at the school and was hired by Chip Ganassi Racing in 2003 before taking his current job at the JTG Daugherty organization.<\/p>\n

The Army veteran served as crew chief for the No. 47 and driver A.J. Allmendinger for five years (2011-15), leading the JTG Daugherty team to an emotional win at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International and a Cup Playoff berth in 2014. He currently serves as lead engineer on Chris Buescher\u2019s No. 37 Chevrolet.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrian was one of my favorite people to work with in my career,\u2019\u2019 Allmendinger said. \u201cHe is very passionate, smart and more importantly easy to work with and always cared about his guys on the team. I\u2019m so happy we were able to get a Cup win together. He is a family man and all-around great person.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

The praise sounds very familiar to what Burns says of his friend Moore. One of Burns fondest memories in the sport is when his former Army colleague surprised him at Phoenix\u2019s ISM Raceway during a 2005 race weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I got out of the Army, it was pretty neat because he knew what I wanted to do and where I was wanting to go with it,\u2019\u2019 Burns recalled of Moore. \u201cWhen I got out, David had been sent over there to Iraq for a while. He had a leave of absence and I was at the race track in Phoenix for a race weekend and he actually showed up on pit road.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was really neat. I didn\u2019t even know he was going to be there. That was really cool. I got to hear some stories of what they\u2019d gone through over there [in Iraq] and show him around the garage and pit road.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

To honor Moore on the race car Burns engineers \u2013 to celebrate his friend\u2019s life and pay credit to his ultimate sacrifice \u2013 is an important show of remembrance for Burns. And he looks forward to meeting Moore\u2019s family and commemorating his service.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this kind of industry, most people\u2019s day-to-day job, you\u2019re just hustling and bustling and you forget to look up and see what\u2019s going on around you,\u2019\u2019 Burns said. \u201c[Memorial Day] is a day when you can kind of take a moment and reflect back on the sacrifices made so you can do what you want to do \u2013 enjoy life with your family and realize how good you have it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s more personal, because I\u2019ve never met his family so this will be neat for me because I\u2019ll get the opportunity to learn more about him and share some stories.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

This very personal connection highlights a grid filled this weekend in honor of heroes. Also among them:<\/p>\n

Landon Cassill\u2019s No. 00 Chevrolet will carry the name of U.S. Marine Corporal Kyle Schneider who died at the age of 23 while serving in Afghanistan. <\/p>\n

Kurt Busch\u2019s No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet will honor U.S. Army Lieutenant General Timothy Maude who was killed Sept. 11, 2001 at the U.S. Pentagon \u2013 the highest-ranking U.S. officer killed by foreign action since World War II.<\/p>\n

Chase Elliott\u2019s No. 9 Chevrolet will honor U.S. Army Sergeant Bradley Marshall, who served in the 25th<\/sup> Infantry Division and was killed in Kalsu, Iraq, in 2007. Marshall\u2019s son and his father will attend Sunday\u2019s race and meet Elliott.<\/p>\n

Aric Almorola\u2019s No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford will honor fallen Vietnam War veteran John Patrick Bartone, a Warrant Officer in the U.S. Army who was killed in 1970 at the age of 21 in South Vietnam.<\/p>\n

Denny Hamlin\u2019s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota will honor U.S. Navy Ensign Sarah Mitchell, 23, a Virginia native who was killed while on deployment in the Red Sea in 2018.<\/p>\n

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will carry the name of U.S. Air Force Captain John Graziano, who died in November, 2018 while conducting a training mission at Laughlin Air Force Base in Texas.<\/p>\n

These are a rich sampling of a Coca-Cola 600 starting grid that will be a full display of military heroism and an opportunity for the sport to pay tribute to those who sacrificed and the families and friends who loved them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Each Memorial Day weekend NASCAR Salutes introduces the sport and its fans to a long and esteemed list of fallen heroes – servicemen and servicewomen who have given their life while protecting our country. The sport memorializes and honors them on this solemn holiday weekend featuring […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":25927,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[233,16],"class_list":["post-25916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-charlotte-motor-speedway","tag-nascar"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Buescher_Chris_600Miles_2019.jpg?fit=3991%2C2657","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-6K0","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25916","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25916"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25916\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25929,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25916\/revisions\/25929"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}