Today’s guest post comes from our friends at Kingdom Racing…

Heartbreak! On a scorching hot day in May, barely visible through the haze of expended fuel and heat waves rising from the tarmac, a race car crawls to a complete stop just past the halfway mark of the 101st Indianapolis 500. The #24 Dreyer and Reinbold Racing/Kingdom Racing (DRR/KR) Dallara DW12 Indycar should be cruising along at over 220 miles per hour, but instead sits motionless on the apron of the 2.5 mile oval. Far off in the distance, the lone, dejected figure of driver Sage Karam slowly debarks from the cockpit. In the pit box few are speaking, holding back a whirlwind of emotions after months of hard work and preparation yields a disheartening end.

Even though the on-track race for Kingdom Racing (KR) came to a frustrating finish, there is another race off the track that holds greater significance for the Texas-based team; the race to reach souls for Jesus Christ. The 2017 edition of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing featured a media blitz with superstar Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso, who decided to participate in the Indy 500 instead of the storied Monaco Grand Prix. The fact that these two races occurred on the same day led the Andretti-McLaren-Honda team to coin the tagline, “The Race of Two Worlds.” The same phrase perfectly describes the duality of the races Kingdom Racing undertakes. While KR is a trackside partner with DRR to raise awareness for its mission of delivering God’s word through motorsports, the ministry side of KR, the Miles of Smiles outreach program, is hard at work off the tarmac. The Miles of Smiles program hosts several guests at numerous races, offering a VIP experience for those in need of a loving embrace.

Though rooted in motorsports, Miles of Smiles is so much more than a VIP experience at the track. The heart of Miles of Smiles is spreading the love and compassion of Christ by connecting with people at a spiritual level. At this year’s Indy 500, KR hosted a family who’d recently suffered the tragic loss of their son. KR founder George Del Canto told of his own loss when he shared the passing of his first wife, Marichu, to stage four brain cancer in 2008. Although complete strangers until then, the group felt each other’s pain and in those beautiful, tender moments together, wept and prayed for comfort and healing. The family loved the Indy 500 race, but the experience they may remember most is the time spent in the presence of Christ, bonding with people they barely knew.

“Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” -Romans 12:14

As the Indycar, Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA), and sprint car King of the Wing series criss-cross the country during the course of the racing year, KR can be found at different racing venues, advancing its vision of reaching one million men and women for Jesus Christ. For KR, “the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us that are being saved, it is the power of God. Corinthians 1:18.”

This is the sustaining power for Kingdom Racing and, with eyes up, they continue to pursue the path that the Lord has set before them; to Victory.