In the spirit of the season, veteran motorsports writer Al Pearce deserves substantial recognition for a charitable project that has taken him around the world in the past 13 months. Pearce is a writer who literally has gone the extra mile in supporting two causes initiated by Kyle and Pattie Petty: the Victory Junction Gang Camp and the Kyle Petty Charity Ride. At his own expense, Pearce, who lives in Newport News, Va., and covers NASCAR for AutoWeek, traveled approximately 67,000 miles to obtain the signatures of 20 Formula One world driving champions on a racing helmet he plans to auction in support of the two charities. Trips to London and Brazil in December, to get the signatures of Lewis Hamilton and Nelson Piquet completed the roster of living F1 champions. The helmet now features 20 names, including the 19 living champions plus Phil Hill, who died Aug. 28, 2008. Hill is the only American-born driver to win the F1 championship. Pearce met each driver face-to-face, with the exception of Sir Jack Brabham, who lives in Australia. FedEx delivered the helmet to Brabham and back to Pearce after it was signed. Despite the enormous expenses he accumulated, Pearce won’t take a dime of reimbursement for this labor of love.(NASCAR.com), more details and info on the upcoming auction on my Racing Charities page.(12-28-2008)
