A conventional minister sometimes has to talk over crying babies or the occasional snoring parishioner, but part of Bob’s job involves preaching over the snarl of a V8 engines. That’s what happens when you’re NASCAR’s ARCA Menards Series West chaplain holding your Chapel Service in a race car hauler or pit area grandstand. Sometimes it even happens in the main grandstands with all the fans too!

“I could be a church pastor in a local church, but Kathy and I have always felt led to a “mission field” outside the local church,” Bob says. “I’ve done the short-term foreign mission field work, but I always dreamed to be able to give back to the sport I love and have been involved in since youth.” Mission accomplished. Bob is one of the self-funded NASCAR chaplains along with the full-time chaplains working for Motor Racing Outreach (MRO).The racing Pastor deals with a tragedy like that and other life issues facing their racing community from the heart and Bob and his wife Kathy are the same. “We personally know all our Drivers, Teams, Car Owners and NASCAR’s ARCA Officials and take each person seriously as a friend”, says Bob. “That is our heart and very important to us.”

On race day, Bob and other MRO chaplains try to provide a short church service for drivers, crew members, Officials, and their families. On the grid, Bob and Kathy visit each of the cars at the starting line to pray with individual drivers and team members if they desire, besides always having a last word of encouragement.

During races, Bob and Kathy and other MRO chaplains are always on hand around the pit area at race tracks encouraging the teams during both good times and tough days on the track. They are immediately on scene during a serious accident and assist the racer’s family and crew at the track and at the hospital when the need arises.

In these traumatic situations they don’t lie if a child’s father is involved; or tell them Dad will be OK until they know for sure. Instead, they pray with them, which always seems to calm the kids. The same is true with the adult family and team members, though they work to encourage and stand in faith alongside them.