Fine story out of D.C. Thursday, as Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Rick Hendrick stopped en route to Dover to lay a ceremonial wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
NASCAR Scene's Jeff Gluck was at the event, and posted the picture at right on his Twitter feed. Arlington is sacred ground, with more than 330,000 miliary members who made the ultimate sacrifice buried there. And the drivers were clearly humbled by the magnitude of the event and the location.
Both drivers have run under the National Guard sponsor banner this season, and for Junior, that carries a different burden than pumping an energy drink. "I tell people all the time it's so much different than trying to sell a product off the shelf," Junior told Scene Daily afterward. "The military is a career choice, it's a commitment, and you're trying to convince someone to look into it. When you go to appearances with the Guard like we're doing today, you definitely see that firsthand. It's more tangible." The cemetery is still active, hosting up to 30 burials every day.
NASCAR's connection with the military runs deeper than any other sport, and it's good to see its biggest stars placing themselves in proper perspective here. For more on the visit and the cemetery, check out the article linked below. And keep an eye on Junior and Jeff during the National Anthem this weekend; they might just have a little more to think about this weekend than most.
Wreath-laying at Arlington humbles Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon [Scene Daily]
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