A DAY AT THE RACES

March 18, 2007

A couple of months ago, we got a call from Jennifer Wade, who works in corporate development for NASCAR and is Director of Partnership Development for the Victory Junction Gang Camp, founded by NASCAR driver Kyle Petty and his wife Pattie Petty, in honor of thier late son Adam. This camp is a year-round facility serving children with chronic medical conditions or serious illnesses by providing life-changing camping experiences that are exciting, fun, and empowering. Anyway, Jen and Pattie spotted our trailer on youtube.com and begged us to send them a copy of Darius Goes West: The Roll of His Life to show to their camp staff.

We did, and after watching it, Pattie remarked, "When I saw the documentary that was put together about Darius, I was overwhelmed with emotion. He is a courageous young man and his story will touch the hearts of millions and hopefully help fund research that will eventually result in a cure for Muscular Dystrophy." She and Jen also told us they wanted to meet Darius. In fact, they extended two invitations to Darius and the crew: to spend time this summer at Victory Junction Camp and to attend a NASCAR race. The latter happened today, and you won't believe the events that unfolded...

Darius's day at the Atlanta Motor Speedway began with a BIG surprise. Soon after arriving at the track with Daniel, Jason, and Collin--and well before the race started--Darius was presented with a brand new wheelchair-accessible Dodge Sprinter!!! "Bold capability is a hallmark of the Dodge brand of vehicles and a shared attribute with Darius Weems--a young man with a vibrant spirit," said Mike Accavitti, Director of Dodge Motorsports and SRT Marketing, Chrysler Group. "Dodge is excited to supply the use of a Dodge Sprinter full-size van to accommodate all of Darius's transportation needs."

Mobility Transportation provided the lift device and wheelchair access to the Dodge Sprinter, and Delta Airlines arranged for Daniel to fly to Michigan on Friday to pick up the new van. Dodge has agreed to let us keep these magnificent new wheels for at least a year.

This surprise could not have come at a better time. For years, Darius's sole means of transportation (aside from the bus he takes to and from school) has been the Smalley family's 1994 Dodge high top conversion van, which could only accommodate Darius in his manual chair with the use of some portable ramps. It was a tight squeeze! On Thursday night, several crew members took D to the movies, and on the way home, the Smalley van, with its almost 200,000 miles, broke down. On Friday morning, we learned that it will cost more to fix than it's worth. So, THANK YOU DODGE--and a special shout out to Denise Berecz at Daimler Chrysler for expediting this awesome surprise!

With the Smalley van inoperable, we also realized we had no way to get Darius to the Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday without spoiling the surprise. To the rescue: Keith Hargrave of Hargrave Motor Coach, who provided (at cost) a mini-bus with a lift so that Dairus--and his "pimped" chair--could make the trip.

Needless to say, Darius's eyes lit up when he saw the new van. "That's so cool...that's so cool," was all he could manage to say. After the presentation, Darius rolled over to the NASCAR drivers' motorhome lot where he met Richard Petty and got his autorgraph. Next up: a tour of the garage to see all the great cars (and if you've seen the movie, you KNOW how much D loves cars!).

After that, Darius, Collin, Daniel, and Jason were invited to attend the Drivers' Meeting (a huge honor). They next went to Chapel, where Darius shook hands with Chick-fil-A CEO S. Truett Cathy. By then, everyone was starving and headed over to the Dodge bus for a cookout.

After lunch, D was escorted to the "front row" and sat next to Kyle Petty's race car for the national anthem. He stayed near the track for the traditional "Gentlemen, start your engines" call, then headed to the pit stall where he hung around for the first pit stop.

The remainder of the race was spent high atop the track in a luxurious suite, compliments of Sprint Nextel. The food was awesome, and so was the company. After the race was over, Darius got to visit Victory Lane.

We couldn't get permission to film today's events, but Jennifer Wade took lots of photos, which she will send us soon for posting here. Thank you, Jen, Denise, Kyle, Pattie, Dodge, Sprint Nextel, Mobility Transportation, and Delta for making this amazing day possible for Darius. He will never forget all of the excitement, and we will never forget your kindness!

DGW...Know about it.