Live from the Rust Belt

Racing for Others: A Driving Force for Charity

by Josh Paufler

A community comes together in times of need and the diecast racing community is no different. There’s never been a bigger time of need than right now, in the middle of this worldwide pandemic. A few racers and channels have found ways to give back and be awesome in the process.

TuneTrax Racing hosted a charity event this week, sponsored by Silverback Racing, to benefit St. Jude Children’s Hospital. This was an atypical charity race as all the vehicles were Chris Lowey’s house cars.

A $5 minimum donation to St Jude bought you a seat on his brand new track in Thailand. The 2-lane speedway set up made for some exciting finishes and the diorama surrounding the track gave it a great immersive feel. A fun watch for sure.

UNITING FOR GOOD -- TuneTrax Racing and Silverback Racing worked together to raise funds for St Jude Children's Hospital.

If you’ve read my recaps or watched the action from the Westfield 500 last month, you know that it was one for the books…. literally.

Jim Desaulniers started the mail-in tournament to raise money for his local library that was affected by the COVID shutdown. As a Boy Scout leader, Desaulniers encourages kids to use the resources available at the public library and saw this race as a way to help the library survive. It just goes to show, you don’t need to fully fund medical research to do good in your community.

Speaking of medical research, here at Diecast Racing Report we are sponsoring a very bright charity event this October. Pinks For The Cure will benefit the Susan G. Komen Foundation, an organization focused on supporting breast cancer research. This is a wide open tournament with all brands and castings allowed, with one stipulation… they must be pink.

With an 8 car per household limit, there will be one big and wild field of racers heading to Box Canyon Loop this fall.

Over at Rust Belt Racing, we’re organizing a race later this year to benefit a local Autism group in Michigan. Stay tuned for more details as the plans develop.

Looking at how this online community of racers has reached out to help the real world community makes me proud.

There are some generous and caring individuals out there looking to make a difference. Let’s support these causes as best we can and lift up our community in these uncertain times.