Compton leads two rural churches near Elkin, N.C., about an hour's drive up Interstate 77. N.C. A Mooresville native, Compton raced motorcycles in the '70s. He enjoyed going fast, but he enjoyed even more the brotherhood of people who share a need for speed. Or how the church should be. Before you could say Gentlemen, Start Your Engines, Compton last year established Methodist Motorsports Evangelism, recruited Beam to drive the car and began looking at Lowe's Motor Speedway as one great, big, noisy mission field.
Most sports teams have chaplains.
The NBA's Hornets pray at midcourt after every game. Charlotte-based Motor Racing Outreach has Bible study and worship for drivers and their crews. So a church-sponsored car is just one more step on a path already packed with believers. And where Compton's prerace prayer the other night was preceded by an official's plea for drivers to quit wrecking each other's cars. Compton wants to win as much as the next race-team leader.