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DETROIT --
WATCH VIDEO - NHRA Drivers' Group Visits Spangdahlem Air Base, Nov. 2006 - For more than 66 years, the USO (United Service Organizations) has been providing morale, welfare and recreational services to U.S. military personnel and their families. The USO is a nonprofit, charitable organization, relying on the generosity of the American people to support its programs and services. The USO will once again be providing air transportation (as it did in 2005-06) for the group's trip to Germany, and GM Racing will ship 1,500 souvenir gift bags to KMC for distribution during the visit. The 435th Services Squadron at Ramstein AB will host the NHRA drivers and provide transportation and logistics support during their three-day stay in Germany. As in 2005 and '06, the Army Special Forces Association, Randall Shughart Chapter 64 based in Carlisle, Pa., will be spearheading the visit as the drivers' group advance team. For the past six years, members of this Chapter have taken on the mission of supporting the wounded at LRMC with t-shirts, caps, sweatpants, sweatshirts, international calling cards and other items. The Chapter was recognized for its efforts earlier this summer during a "Welcome Home" celebration at the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals in Reading (Pa.). Accompanying the racers on the trip again this year are SFC (R) Wayne Reed, MAJ (R) Dieter Protsch and MSG (R) Sonny Womelsdorf. The five drivers, along with a contingent from GM Racing, will depart the United States on Saturday, Nov. 10, leaving Detroit Metro for the eight-hour flight to Germany. After arriving in Frankfurt on Sunday, Nov. 11, the group will spend three days visiting military personnel assigned to different areas of the Kaiserslautern Military Community, and will also spend a day with wounded troops and hospital staff at LRMC before flying back to the United States on Nov. 14. "We've been planning this visit to Ramstein AB, Germany, from the day we got back from last year's trip," said Fred Simmonds, GM drag racing marketing manager. "But this third visit is not the whole story. NHRA sponsors have been providing souvenir gift items to our Army Special Forces Association members throughout the year so that they can deliver these gifts in person on their frequent trips to visit the troops. These guys are not only Special Forces, but they're special people. They make these trips to visit the combat-wounded troops at their own expense, and they are warmly received by everyone in Germany. "A special 'Thank You' also goes out to those sponsors who've made significant donations. Summit Racing Equipment, Cruisin' Sports, Pro-Cal, TMG Sports Marketing, Performance Marketing Group, Fram, Wiley X Eyewear, AC Delco, Mac Tools, Jeg's High Performance Mail Order, and the NHRA. Our mission is quite simple: tell the troops how much we appreciate the sacrifices they've made so that all of us in America may enjoy the many freedoms we have. They're doing an awesome job under daunting circumstances, and we want them to know just how proud we are of the work they're doing for all Americans." The group will be based at Ramstein AB, the largest Air Force base in Europe, responsible for the aeromedical evacuation missions that bring wounded troops to Landstuhl hospital. As part of the troop-morale tour, the drivers will be visiting Air Force squadrons at Ramstein to see how they fly and maintain their fleet. They will also attend a briefing with the weather squadron at Sembach Air Base, visit the 52nd Fighter Wing at Spangdahlem Air Base in southwestern Germany, and make numerous other stops at Baumholder, Kleber Kaserne, and Ramstein.
"It's probably one of the most satisfying things I've done in my career," answered Johnson when asked about his previous two visits with the troops. "For us, as a group to go over there, and give a little bit back in return for the immense sacrifices that all of them have made, I mean, it was definitely more of an opportunity than a request to just do something. It was something all of us, collectively, felt we really needed to do." Jim Yates drives the Wiley X Eyewear Pontiac and is a two-time NHRA champion winning back-to-back Pro Stock titles in 1996-97. In 378 career races spanning 18 years, the 54-year-old Virginia resident has captured 25 victories, advanced to 58 final rounds, earned 29 No. 1 qualifying awards and won 409 eliminator rounds (.578). Yates has finished second in the NHRA points standings three times (1995, 2001-02), in the top five of the Pro Stock standings eight times and in the top 10 of the points standings 14 times. Yates best season was in 1997 when he won the points title, scored nine national-event victories, advanced to 12 final rounds, captured nine No. 1 qualifying awards and won 58 eliminator rounds (.817). Yates was part of the NHRA contingent that visited American troops in Germany in 2005 and '06, and on October 3 of this year, he joined Alcohol Funny Car team owner/crew chief Jay Blake in a USO-sponsored visit with American combat-wounded troops at the Mologne House w hich is a part of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. "I consider it a real privilege just to be asked," Yates said. "As you can imagine, it's been an awesome experience for all of us. When you have an opportunity to give something back to the troops and their families, the moms and dads, it's really special. After our first visit in 2005 I received a letter from a mother of one of the soldiers. She was a huge fan of ours and wanted to thank us for what we had done. What she didn't realize is that it meant so much more to us to say thanks to the troops. "We've been very fortunate to have the opportunity to race nationally with the NHRA, and it's nice to give back to the troops who have sacrificed so much in the fight for our freedom." Tommy Johnson Jr. is the driver of Don Prudhomme's Skoal Racing Chevy Impala SS and was also a part of the NHRA contingent that visited Germany in 2005-06. At the age of 20, Johnson made his first start as a professional driver at the NHRA Nationals at Phoenix and captured his first career victory at Seattle in 1993 driving a Top Fuel Dragster. Johnson won his first Funny Car race at Reading in 1999 driving for Joe Gibbs and was hired by Don Prudhomme to drive the Skoal Racing Chevrolet in 2001. The 39-year-old Avon, Ind., resident has scored nine career wins, raced in 22 final rounds, earned nine No. 1 qualifying awards and notched nine top-10 finishes in points (six in Funny Car). Johnson captured a win this season at the NHRA Supernationals in Englishtown (N.J.) and has earned two raceday pole awards. "I'm honored to be able to visit our troops again for the third straight year with GM and the USO," Johnson said. "I jumped at the opportunity to go because it's the least we can do to support our troops. I've seen several of the people we've met at Ramstein the last couple of years when they attended a national event on leave, or after their tour of duty. That's a special feeling when they tell you how much your visit meant to them. I hope to be able to do this for years as my way of giving back to our men and women in the military."
"This is one of those trips that I look forward to every year now," McClenathan said. "It's great to go each year and try and give something back to the people that risk their lives for our families each and every day. It means a great deal to me and I always come back with a much better picture of what freedom is all about." In 2006, Melanie Troxel had one of the best starts of any driver in the history of the Top Fuel dragster category when she advanced to the finals at the first six races on the schedule including wins at the season-opening Winternationals in Pomona, Calif, and the Summit Racing Nationals in Las Vegas. She led the POWERade points standings for the first half of the year before relinquishing first-place to Doug Kalitta in July. This season Troxel has driven the Vietnam Veterans/POW-MIA Top Fuel dragster to two national-event victories, advanced to four final rounds and is currently in ninth place in the standings. In 2000, Troxel was named the recipient of the Auto Club of Southern California Road to the Future award, and last year she made her first trip to visit the troops in Germany. "I feel very fortunate to have been invited to visit the troops in Germany for the second year," Troxel said. "I can't imagine the sacrifices that the men and women of our military make for us, but I hope that in some small way our trip brings a little bit of home to them." In times of peace and war, for more than 66 years the USO has consistently delivered its special brand of entertainment and comfort to service men and women. As the bridge between the American people and their troops, the USO supports the nation's armed forces by providing needed services, including entertainment, rest and recuperation, education, supplies and connections to home. USO tours are an essential part of the USO's mission of boosting troop morale. In 2006, the USO produced 66 tours and staged 328 special events, including troop performances, autograph signings, hospital visits and movie screenings. To learn more about the USO and how to support the troops, visit http://www.uso.org.
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