Race cars have been used for everything from selling candy to recruiting soldiers for the Army. Have you ever wondered what would happen if this sort of marketing were employed to spread God ‘s word?
Thanks to Katy based Kingdom Racing, you don’t have to wonder. Kingdom Racing was founded by George Del Canto. Their goal is to reach a million men and women for Jesus Christ through motor sports. In 2008 they became the first faith-vision team in history to race in the Indianapolis 500. This year marks not only their fifth appearance in that legendary race, but the first year that the team will participate in the entire IndyCar season.
To do this they have partnered with Schmidt Hamilton Motorsports. Team Director Charles West had this to say when announcing the partnership earlier this year; “This is a benchmark year for Kingdom Racing, one that’s been in the works for many years. We’re definitely up to the challenge and couldn’t be more honored to partner with Schmidt Hamilton Motorsports.”
Schmidt Hamilton’s Sam Schmidt added this about joining with Kingdom Racing’s effort: “We couldn’t be more pleased than to have a relationship in 2012 with Kingdom Racing. Obviously, I am a firm believer in their mission and sincerely hope we can add significant value and exposure to a combined program moving forward. There are also extreme ironies at work here such as my incident back in 2000, Davey’s (Hamilton) incident while driving for SSM in 2001, ensuing challenges which can only be overcome through faith, combined with George and Charles’ commitment and dedication to fellowship through racing related programs, etc. Needless to say, the opportunities are endless and only restricted by one’s imagination.”
The main attraction is the blue #77 car piloted by veteran driver Simon Pagenaud and sponsored by HP. As of this writing, Pagenaud is 5th in the overall IndyCar standings, and is scheduled to start in the middle of row 8 in the Indy 500. At each event the group holds fan events using the car and its driver as the main draw. They use the opportunity to discuss Jesus Christ and God’s word with those gathered. In fact, they are expanding their outreaches this year in conjunction with participating in the entire IndyCar season for the first time. At Indy this year, Kingdom Racing members spent three full hours visiting with the legendary “Alleycats” encamped at the entrance of the storied Gasoline Alley, and apparently they and God’s message were very well received !
Among their partner organizations is The Fellowship of Cinco Ranch, whose Teaching Pastor-Global and Local Impact, J. David Ruzicka, serves on Kingdom Racing’s advisory board. Other advisory board members include Wallace Henley – Second Baptist Church, Houston, Assistant Pastor, author and former White House aide, Patrick Morley – Founder and CEO of Man in the Mirror, and Richard Jackson who, among other things, serves on the board of Porsche Club of America.
The team also has a very active Twitter and Facebook online community. Through their social media outreaches they not only share team news and photos, but also scripture passages so God’s word gets in front of people. Following qualifying for this year’s 500 race, many people on Twitter were speaking excitedly about helping Kingdom Racing pass out Christian themed “hero cards.” They are located on Facebook at facebook.com/kingdomracing, on Twitter at twitter.com/#!/KingdomRacing. You can also find them at kingdomracing.net.
