Nice Story: When Tony Stewart found out Nicole Childs was waiting to see him at Michigan International Speedway, he immediately stopped taping a radio commercial and went to visit her. Childs was at the racetrack in Brooklyn to get her wish of meeting the NASCAR star. The 18-year-old from Midland County’s Sanford has a rare form of ovarian cancer. But Childs got more than she ever dreamed of that day, which was made possible by True Value and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. What was expected to be a 15-minute meeting between the two turned into a thrilling weekend. Childs met other NASCAR drivers, rode along with Stewart in the Winston Cup pace car, watched the IROC and Winston Cup races from the pits and hung out with Stewart, who also offered to fly her in his private plane to any other race. Childs was impressed because the weekend didn’t focus on her illness, but instead on racing and everyday talk, including fishing and an upcoming wedding in Stewart’s family. She said Stewart, 30, only asked about her illness once. “He asked me where I’m getting treatment and if I like my doctor. If not, he said, he’d get me a new one,” Childs told the Midland Daily News on Tuesday. Stewart also invited Childs to attend the Sunday Winston Cup drivers’ meeting with him, where she and her family were introduced. Many of the drivers, she said, talked with her and gave her autographs(Times Dispatch/AP). Note: this is just one of many stories about how NASCAR drivers go out of their way to help out(7-1-2001)
