Former NASCAR Cup team co-owner Bob Rahilly, who returned to the pit box in late April after nearly losing his life in a house fire, has been voted by the NMPA press membership as the NMPA Pocono Spirit Award Second Quarter recipient.
Rahilly suffered third-degree burns over 38 percent of his body when his house caught fire while he was sleeping. He had returned from an ARCA test earlier that January day. He was first taken to a Charlotte hospital, but then immediately flown to the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center Burn Center in Winston-Salem, N.C. He spent more than two months in the burn unit, including 45 days in intensive care, and underwent numerous skin grafts. Rahilly’s recovery continues but that hasn’t stopped him and his brother Dick Rahilly from preparing ARCA and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series entries while building engines for Modifieds racing and winning at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem.
Rahilly was so overcome when informed of the award that all he could say was “Thank you.”
Rahilly is now eligible for the year-end NMPA Pocono Spirit Award, which is also voted on by the NMPA press membership. It will be presented at the annual convention. The first quarter recipient was Crystal Clay, who spent several weeks gathering a wide range of essentials for those who lost everything in the January Eaton fire near her hometown of Pasadena, Calif.
Other nominees for the second quarter award were: the Amazon Prime Video team; Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Noah Gragson and Zane Smith; Ross Chastain and his Trackhouse Racing team; Julie Giese; Mark Ingersoll; Erik Jones; and Ty Majeski, his wife Ali VanderLoop and ThorSport Racing.
Established in 1992 and supported by Pocono Raceway, the Spirit Award is designed to recognize character and achievement in the face of adversity, sportsmanship and contributions to motorsports. It also acknowledges competitors who have overcome illness, injury or tragedy to return to racing.
