NASCAR Cup Series

Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano helping veterans this weekend in Michigan

Published Jun. 13, 2015 11:30 a.m. ET

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We may be a few weeks removed from the annual Memorial Day Weekend holiday, but the NASCAR community continues to show support and give back to the military community.

This weekend at Michigan International Speedway, two drivers have the opportunity to give back to the military in a big way.

If Michael Waltrip Racing's Clint Bowyer wins Sunday's race, sponsor 5-Hour Energy will donate $1 million to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation.

"A million dollars, that would put a lot of children in college," said Edie Rosenthal, deputy executive director of the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. "Anyone that is serving in the Special Forces and they lose their live in the line of duty, we're going to make sure those children get to go to college." 

Rosenthal said the work the foundation does to ensure a fully paid for college experience for the children of fallen service members is one less thing the soldiers have to think about while in the line of duty.

One family that benefitted from the services of the Special Operations Warrior Foundation is that of Navy Seal Aaron Carson Vaughn. A member of the Navy Seal Team Six was killed on Aug. 6, 2011 in a helicopter crash in the Tangi River Valley of Afghanistan. 

When Vaughan deployed to Afghanistan, he left a wife, Kimberly, a one-and-a-half-year-old son and a three-week-old daughter. When he lost his life, the Special Operations Warrior Foundation stepped in to ensure the two young children would be able to attend college free of charge. 

Friday at MIS, Vaughan said SOWF's efforts to ensure a college education for her two children "eased the anxiety" of the future without her husband.

"It's really neat to have a sponsor that wants to give back," Bowyer said Friday at Michigan International Speedway. "We've done this for a few years now. It's a lot of fun. The cherry 5-Hour is my favorite. To give five cents of every bottle is a huge thing. To be able to give back to great causes over the years but this one is more special to me because it's a really neat cause. The Special Operations Warrior Foundation is a great cause and you meat great families, just like Kimberly here.

"With that said, they're upping the ante big time. If we win Sunday it's $1 million going to the foundation. It's a huge honor to be able to have this in front of us, and a huge opportunity, and I can't imagine handing a $1 million to a greater cause than the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. Looking forward to the challenge."

Daytona 500 winner Joey Logano joined Bill Lawson, former president of Paralyzed Veterans of America, and Dave Randall, Great Clips senior manager of marketing strategy and analysis, Friday in the Michigan International Speedway media center to kick off the Great Clips 250 benefiting PVA NASCAR XIFNIY Series race weekend.

After his big win in Daytona, Logano donated $22,222 to the PVA through the Joey Logano Foundations. The PVA is the country's only congressionally chartered veterans service organization dedicated solely to serving veterans with spinal cord injury or disease.

"I think we can always do more," the Team Penske driver said of military veterans. "I have been fortunate enough to go on a few USO tours and get to see firsthand what they are doing and get to hear their stories of what is going on. Anytime I get an opportunity like that I take advantage of it. It is really interesting to me and I feel it is the least we can do to go over there and shake their hand.

"We can always do more and are always trying to raise money," he said. "The PVA has done a great job and I am sure they want to do more. That is why we are here today, trying to raise more money. It is something that I feel like we are all called to do, to give back to society and help people out when we need it. It is sometimes hard not to be selfish. You have to be able to look at the big picture and realize there is something bigger than just your life."

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