Written by Bret Voelkel.
When you’re in business it seems that there is a never ending opportunity to be involved with charities. We review all these opportunities and get involved with as many as possible at least at some level.And then there is Rob McGregor. Rob and his wife Tina own
No Limit Engineeringin San Bernardino, California. They have been good friends and customers for many years. We’ve supported each others vehicle projects…increasingly without question. We’ve both come to know that if one of us deems a project worthy of support, that is good enough…it needs to be supported.That was the idea in my mind when Rob, who had just been awarded an opportunity to race in the
Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational in Las Vegas, invited me publicly [from the press conference stage at SEMA] to match his commitment to donate $100 for every position I finished above last to a charity that he is very close to…the
Wounded Warrior Project…Done.
But the story continued. That night at the annual Pro-touring.com dinner I called Rob up on stage to explain a bit more about the Wounded Warrior Project. His efforts inspired them to start raffling off the door prizes to the highest bidder with the proceeds going to Wounded Warrior. He raised $2700, and got another commitment from Karl Dunn to donate $100 for every finishing position above last.
Rob finished 15th, Karl finished 7th, and I finished 3rd overall out of 55 participants, raising a total of $14,000 between us!
And as we explained our efforts at the Optima award ceremony after the race, the rest of the participants and spectators dug deep and donated another $2500 to Wounded Warrior. The total was up to almost $20,000!
Then as the dust settled from Optima race – Rob and I end up giving a lot of rides to customers at the Goodguys autocross events all over the country. It is rare to make a solo lap. How about we request a $20 donation to the Wounded Warrior Project for taking an autocross lap with us?
At the Pleasanton event we raised around $1,000, the Scottsdale event about $800…and at the Del Mar event…$3000! Now the total is almost $25,000 going to a Charity that supports soldiers who have been injured in battle and are in need.
Contributors lined up at Del Mar brought $3,000 to the cause |
Rob’s C10 taking rides at Pleasanton, Scottsdale, and Del Mar |
Bret driving the 33 Ford at OUSCI donated $5,200 to the cause |
Karl Dunn’s 07 Mustang at OUSCI donated $4,800 to the cause |
As a retired veteran I have seen what the Iraq / Afghanistan Wars have done to our brave soldiers as I have spent time healing in military hospitals myself.I fully appreciate what Rob,Tina,Black Widow Exhaust, Ridetech,Goodguys and more are doing to help raise money for Wounded Warriors.Brand differences aside we are all hot rodders.