{"id":48510,"date":"2024-10-11T21:44:37","date_gmt":"2024-10-12T02:44:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=48510"},"modified":"2024-10-12T15:38:32","modified_gmt":"2024-10-12T20:38:32","slug":"tony-stewart-meets-and-greets-a-genuine-american-hero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2024\/10\/11\/tony-stewart-meets-and-greets-a-genuine-american-hero\/","title":{"rendered":"Tony Stewart meets-and-greets a genuine American hero"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Tony Stewart put a huge smile on U.S. Marine veteran’s Don Graves face at the 14th  annual Tony Stewart Smoke Show Wednesday at Texas Motor Speedway. The two helped raise $78,000 for Speedway Children’s Charities. Photo courtesy of Getty Images<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio<\/em><\/p>\n

FORT WORTH \u2013 Himself the subject of hero-worship from his legion of NASCAR and NHRA fans, Tony Stewart quickly deferred to Marine Corps veteran Don Graves the moment they were introduced at Texas Motor Speedway.<\/p>\n

The occasion was the 14th<\/sup> annual Tony Stewart\u2019s Smoke Show fund-raiser, during which paying participants sampled a day in the life of a NASCAR stock car driver \u2013 from pre-race introductions to hot-lapping the high-banked\/1.5-mile oval to riding alongside Stewart and his heavy right foot.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Tony Stewart gave 99-year old U.S. Marine veteran Don Graves a ride of a lifetime at the Tony Stewart Smoke Show Wednesday at Texas Motor Speedway. Courtesy photo.<\/p><\/div>\n

Program beneficiary Speedway Children\u2019s Charities-Texas Chapter invited Graves to sing the national anthem Wednesday afternoon as well as ride shotgun with \u201cSmoke\u201d \u2013 a three-time Cup Series champion and NASCAR Hall of Famer \u2013 at-speed.<\/p>\n

Stewart\u2019s trip to TMS also served as prelude to his participation as team-owner\/Top Fuel rookie driver in this weekend\u2019s 39th<\/sup> annual Texas NHRA FallNationals at Billy Meyer\u2019s Texas Motorplex in Ennis. The FallNats is the fourth of six events in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.<\/p>\n

You know about Tony Stewart. So, who is Don Graves? Today, Graves is a 99-year-old resident of nearby Keller, a super-patriot down to his blue, star-spangled socks and a man with a passion for singing, public speaking and fund-raising for Roll Call of North Texas. The Fort Worth-based non-profit organization provides free meals to veterans at monthly luncheons, and much more.<\/p>\n

In August 1942, Graves was a 17-year-old kid from Detroit who quit school to enlist in the Marines after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Following basic training at Camp Pendleton, Calif., Graves was assigned to Marine Corps 5th<\/sup> Marine Division, 2nd<\/sup> Battalion, 28th<\/sup> Marine Regiment D-Company. In February 1945, Assault Squad Corporal Graves hit the beach on the Japanese-controlled island of Iwo Jima as a flamethrower.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am a member of \u2018The Greatest Generation\u2019 and I\u2019m proud of it,\u201d Graves said shortly after inviting the 16 Smoke Show participants and their family members to join him in singing the national anthem. \u201cI hope everyone in America can hear us, because I believe it\u2019s the greatest anthem that ever was written. Francis Scott Key wrote it as a poem and they made it into a song.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stewart learned about Graves and his service to our country during an extended and animated pre-event chat. \u201cWith all that man\u2019s been through, nothing I\u2019m going to do today is going to scare him,\u201d Stewart said. \u201cThat\u2019s a hero. I\u2019m not a hero, he\u2019s a hero. I might be \u2018heroic\u2019 but that is a hero. Flamethrower at Iwo Jima\u2026I don\u2019t know how you can be a bigger bad-ass than that.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Tony Stewart participates in a media interview session following the Tony Stewart Smoke Show Wednesday at Texas Motor Speedway. Courtesy photo.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cAnd did you see how much energy he has? I don\u2019t even know if he needs his walker. The way he got up out of that chair when I went in there (the pre-event locker room) he thought he was singing the anthem inside.\u201d<\/p>\n

Graves was gingerly slid into the passenger seat of a black No. 14 Mobil 1 Chevy Monte Carlo SS, circa mid-2000s, provided by Team Texas David Starr\u2019s Racing School for three laps with Stewart behind the wheel. The smile on Graves\u2019 open-helmeted face as the former Richard Childress Racing superspeedway car rolled to a quiet stop on pit road was priceless.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was scared at first, I\u2019ll be honest,\u201d Graves said. \u201cI\u2019ve never done that before. After we got going, I watched him shift, downshift, everything. I said, \u2018Heck, this guy knows what he\u2019s doing, for cryin\u2019 out loud. I shouldn\u2019t worry.\u2019 And then I said about two prayers. But no, I enjoyed it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked how close Stewart had taken the right side of the car to any of the track\u2019s walls, Graves joked, \u201cOh, about three or four inches. Or maybe it was six. I didn\u2019t put my hand out though. I\u2019d love to talk to him about that. He had it lined up beautiful. I gotta tell you, I enjoyed it. I really did. Next year, I\u2019m ready to go again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stewart said he glanced over at Graves once he shut off the engine and saw that smile. \u201cHe just loved it,\u201d Stewart said, \u201cand it was like somebody took the weight of the world off my shoulders to know that he enjoyed that ride. That made me feel great.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did not try to scare him at all. But I wanted to make sure that I ran as hard as I could run and gave him 100 percent. In 14 years of doing this, that was the only ride I gave that I was actually nervous about. It was first run of the day and it\u2019s not like I ran a Cup car last week at Talladega. Hadn\u2019t been in a stock car since I did this event last year, and the worst-case scenario would have been crashing the car with him in it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe second-worst thing, or almost equal in my eyes, was that he for a second thought I didn\u2019t give him 100 percent and I\u2019d never hear the end of it. So I ran it as hard as I could run it. Even hit the rev-limiter, right before the start\/finish line.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Tony Stewart and U.S. Marine veteran Don Graves pose for a picture after Stewart took him for a ride in a two-seater stock car at the Tony Stewart Smoke Show Wednesday at Texas Motor Speedway. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIt was such an honor to meet someone like him and hear him sing the national anthem for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

Graves recalled that he enlisted in the Marines at 17, only because his local recruiter rejected his attempt to join-up at 16-and-a-half. \u201cWe all enlisted during that time,\u201d Graves said. \u201cThat\u2019s why the call us \u2018The Greatest Generation,\u2019 I guess. I didn\u2019t go to high school; I went up to junior high and out. Isn\u2019t it interesting? Here I am a flunkie and I speak (at primarily middle and high schools) all the time. But I don\u2019t tell them I quit school.\u201d<\/p>\n

Graves\u2019 assigned duty as flamethrower \u2013 he was then 5-feet-6-inches and 145-pounds \u2013 easily was among the deadliest during the Battle of Iwo Jima. Graves carried the bulky, 72-pound weapon on his back and a .45-caliber pistol on his hip.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you know the life-span of a flamethrower in the Second World War?\u201d Graves said. \u201cFour-minutes. I was the only one that came out of my battalion.\u201d Of the 335 men in his unit who originally stormed the beach with orders to take Mount Suribachi, only 18 were left after six brutal weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI carried the flamethrower, yeah,\u201d Graves said. \u201cWe moved around with the line (of Marines) behind us. Our job was to actually pound away at it. I\u2019d go around with a man on my left and right, they were riflemen. I carried a .45 pistol. And I\u2019m ready to fire that flamethrower, it\u2019s all turned on. We moved around to holes, caves. You know, you could get used to a pillbox. And I\u2019d say (shouting in Japanese for the enemy to \u2018Come Out!) and\u2026nothing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d shoot a burst in there and they\u2019d come running out on fire. If they\u2019re on fire, our boys killed \u2018em. If they\u2019re not on fire, we\u2019d give them a chance to surrender. Yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n

During that famous beach-landing, with Japanese soldiers firing at the Marines from above, Graves did something he never had done before. Assault Corporal Graves prayed to God that if He would get him off the beach that he would serve Him for the rest of his life. That promise was fulfilled nine years later after Graves attended a Billy Graham program. He entered the ministry and served the church for 32 years with his wife, Rebecca, at his side. Graves left the last of the five churches he served at age 82.<\/p>\n

Graves, who will turn 100 on May 3, 2025, now typically averages more than 100 public speaking engagements a year. \u201cDon speaks at civic groups like the Fort Worth Realtors Association, Families of WWII Veterans, speaks at churches \u2013 really, anywhere he’s invited,\u201d said Mary Staffeld, SMSgt. (retired) USAF and President of Roll Call. \u201cHe does ask that the organizations (not the schools) do a donation to Roll Call for his speaking since he fund-raises for us.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Marine veteran Don Graves describes what his ride was like when Tony Stewart drove him around the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway oval Wednesday at the Tony Stewart Smoke Show. Courtesy photo.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cHe sings all over also. He sings at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo on Military Night each year, at galas like the one we are going to this Saturday for the Ashton Johnson Memorial Cloud-dancer Scholarship organization, etc.  Some of these events also donate to Roll Call. Don speaks about his service, his love for his country and why we should honor it. His story is really quite incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the record, Wednesday\u2019s program raised $78,000 for children in need in North Texas. Indeed, Tony Stewart\u2019s Smoke Show has raised more than $2-million for Speedway Children\u2019s Charities-Texas Chapter since the inaugural event in 2008.<\/p>\n

Stewart credited Eddie Gossage, TMS\u2019 first president\/general manager and promoter extraordinaire, with taking the event public.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was Eddie\u2019s brainchild,\u201d Stewart said. \u201cThe first one was a media event and it went so well that I think before we even left at the end of the day he already had the idea to make a charity event out of it. I\u2019m like, \u2018Yeah, I\u2019ll come back to it next year.\u2019 There\u2019s never been any formal agreement\u2026we\u2019re just doing this until whenever. In my eyes, it\u2019s part of my yearly schedule now. It\u2019s never been more than, \u2018See you next year!\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I don\u2019t know that we necessarily have a (monetary) goal set. We just enjoy watching the numbers go up \u2013 knowing we\u2019ve had a lot of fun, we\u2019ve made a lot of friends, we\u2019ve given them an experience in the sport that they can\u2019t get anywhere else. And the best part about it is it\u2019s raised a lot of money for Speedway Children\u2019s Charities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gossage died on May 16, 2024 after an extended battle with cancer. He was 65.<\/p>\n

Speedway Children’s Charities will grant all funds raised throughout 2024 to non-profit organizations that serve children in need in Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant counties.<\/p>\n

Graves\u2019 participation emerged as a perk. \u201cThat was a memory that tops probably any Smoke Show memory that I\u2019ve ever experienced,\u201d said Marissa Chaney, Speedway Children\u2019s Charities-Texas Chapter executive director. \u201cSo many people come to this event in order to meet Tony, so watching him give a ride to a true American hero, someone we all respect so much, was something no one here will ever forget. It was emotional seeing Don\u2019s face once he got out of the car. It was the most incredible thing I\u2019ve ever seen at a Tony Stewart Smoke Show.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s event was just amazing. We had 16 participants, most of whom were new to the program and had never had this experience before, so it was really cool to see them walk into the locker room for the first time to have this experience together.\u201d<\/p>\n

SCC-TX distributes grants each December to local non-profit organizations in the region. In 2023, 22 grants totaling $210,180 were distributed to help more than 20,000 children in need. Since 1997, Speedway Children\u2019s Charities-Texas Chapter has distributed more than $12-million.<\/p>\n

For more information at Speedway Children’s Charities-Texas Chapter or to donate, go to www.speedwaycharities.org\/te<\/a>xas\/ or contact Executive Director Marissa Chaney at 817.215.8564 or mchaney@texasmotorspeedway.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio FORT WORTH \u2013 Himself the subject of hero-worship from his legion of NASCAR and NHRA fans, Tony Stewart quickly deferred to Marine Corps veteran Don Graves the moment they were introduced at Texas Motor Speedway. The occasion was the 14th annual Tony Stewart\u2019s Smoke Show fund-raiser, during which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":678,"featured_media":48512,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_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}},"categories":[11,13],"tags":[16,291,21,68],"class_list":["post-48510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","category-texas-motor-speedway","tag-nascar","tag-smoke-show","tag-texas-motor-speedway","tag-tony-stewart"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/mail-9.jpg?fit=1200%2C960&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-cCq","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/678"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48510"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48510\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48536,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48510\/revisions\/48536"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}