NASCAR Cup Series

NASCAR loses a visionary, friend

Published Dec. 13, 2008 6:28 p.m. ET

Darrell Waltrip

You know folks, Stevie and I met Max Helton in Riverside, Calif., in 1987.

He came over and introduced himself to us and asked us about him moving back East and starting a ministry in NASCAR. It was just ironic because at that particular time, Stevie and I, Lake Speed and his wife Rice and Bobby Hillin, Jr. and his wife Kim had been part of a ministry at the track, but we decided we wanted to do our own thing. We just decided we'd meet in our hotel rooms every race weekend on a Friday night and hold a Bible study on our own.

While we were having these Bible studies on Friday nights, we were praying that God would lift up someone to come to NASCAR and develop the right kind of ministry for our sport.