CONCORD, N.C. – The Jimmie Johnson Foundation will have quite a presence this weekend at Kansas Speedway.
Jimmie Johnson will pilot a special No. 48 Ally Fueling Futures/Jimmie Johnson Foundation Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in Sunday’s race, and he’ll also don his Blue Bunny Helmet of Hope inside the car.
The helmet honors five charities working to improve K-12 public education, each of which will receive a $25,000 grant and have their logos featured on the helmet.
This year’s recipients are Art With a Heart in Indianapolis; High Mountain Youth Project in Ruidoso, New Mexico; Immigrant Family Services Institute in Roslindale, Massachusetts; Lakeshore Elementary School PTA in San Francisco; and Pilot Light in Chicago.
To date, the Helmet of Hope program has contributed more than $1.2 million to 111 different charities.
Along with the unique helmet, all of Johnson’s teammates and a number of competitors will sport a specially designed Jimmie Johnson Foundation visor strip on their respective helmets.
After the race, the autographed visors will be available in an online auction to raise funds for the Jimmie Johnson Foundation programs that support K-12 education.
“It’s really exciting to be able to promote the Jimmie Johnson Foundation this weekend,” said Johnson. “Chandra (wife) and I are so grateful to Ally for allowing us to highlight the foundation, to Blue Bunny for sponsoring the Helmet of Hope program for the eighth time and all of the drivers participating in the visor campaign. Thanks to the generosity of our partners and the NASCAR community, we are able to provide much needed financial support to some outstanding non-profits and schools through foundation programs.”
Check out the special Ally paint scheme, Helmet of Hope and Jimmie Johnson Foundation visor strips in action this Sunday at Kansas, with the race scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.