Racers for Christ provides important service

Published 8:24 am Tuesday, July 15, 2003

WOODBURN – When you’re barreling down a quarter-mile race track at 250 miles per hour there isn’t an awful lot of time to pray, although it probably isn’t a bad idea when traveling so fast.

But before the race is a good time to take care of any spiritual needs and people like Elvon Kauffman and Racers for Christ are there to make it easier for those who partake in motorsports to do exactly that.

Racers for Christ, which began in 1978, is an organization that provides chaplain services to all forms of motorsports, not just drag racing. In the Northwest, where Kauffman serves as regional director, 14 chaplains serve circle-track racing, motorcycle races, the American Power Boat Association and other forms of racing.

“For a lot of the racers that are gone all weekend it would be their custom to be in church on a Sunday morning and we can provide a service for them,” Kauffman said. “Many times people will stop us and talk to us and we’ll have a prayer in the pit, in the staging lanes or just to help them out with whatever spiritual needs that we can.”

Kauffman is himself a former world champion drag racer who saw a need for Racers for Christ in the region and volunteered as a chaplain more than 10 years ago. His experience as a racer certainly comes in handy when it’s time to decide upon a sermon and the delivery he will use.

“I try to follow a racing theme so that I can talk to the racers in a language they’ll understand,” Kauffman said. “For instance this weekend I talked about going through gears. If we never advance we would be children all our lives. That’s true physically, emotionally and spiritually.”

Rich Bailey, of Salem, who drives a 250 mile-per-hour top alcohol dragster for Capitol Auto Group, said the noticeable connection between religion and drag racing wasn’t always there until one of the true legends in the sport took it upon himself to change that.

“I think really the person that blew this wide open was Don Garlits,” Bailey said. “For a long time you didn’t see anything with the two and then he came out with a big cross on his dragster that said, ‘God is Love.’ Then a few more of the big names joined the Racers for Christ organization. Now at the national events, nearly half of the pro cars have the Racers for Christ logo.”

Bailey believes that a shift in the mentality of race car drivers in the past 25 years also led to an increase in the percentage of professing Christians in drag racing. The drivers of the ’70s, who weren’t above drinking, taking narcotics or even dealing drugs, have been replaced by a more conservative group of drivers today.

The fact that many of the most successful race car drivers are Christians certainly can’t hurt winning others over to Christ.

“When you go to a service at a national NHRA event it’s like a who’s who of drag racing,” Bailey said. “You see people like John Force there. It’s pretty neat.”

While high-risk sports, such as drag racing, would appear to be tailor-made to Christianity, Kauffman doesn’t believe that’s necessarily the case.

“I don’t think the danger has anything to do with whether or not a person is a Christian,” Kauffman said. “I think you’ll find Christians in anything as safe to tiddly-winks to the dangers of bull riding. We used to think that Christians had to stay at home and only do the meek and mild and peaceful things, but Christians are out doing all sorts of things. God doesn’t care if we have fun.”

Kauffman said there are plenty of drivers that are regulars at his chapel services, but he can see certain problems, such as breakage in the cars, that may keep them away from church occasionally.

“I have to realize that people didn’t drive 1,000 miles to come hear my church service,” he said. “They drove 1,000 miles because of a drag race so that’s going to come first. But if they can be in church they certainly will be.”

More information on Racers for Christ can be found at http://www.teamrfc.org or contact Kauffman directly at teamrfcnw@aol.com.