DEARBORN - The winner of the fourth annual Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) Design Your Own Race Car contest will be revealed Thursday, Aug. 18, at 11:30 a.m. ET at Ford World Headquarters (WHQ) in Dearborn.
The contest – presented by Ford Customer Service Division (FCSD) and JDRF – invited children with Type 1 diabetes to design their own JDRF-inspired race car paint scheme. The winning design will be featured on the Wood Brothers’ famous No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion driven by Daytona 500 Champion Trevor Bayne at the Pure Michigan 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup series race on Sunday, Aug. 21, at the Michigan International Speedway.
“Our Motorcraft and Quick Lane sponsorship in NASCAR gives us the ability to raise awareness of the mission to find a cure for Type 1 diabetes with millions of race fans at the track and at home watching the race on ESPN,” said Brett Wheatley, director, FCSD.
Bayne, the Wood Brothers, Ford President of The Americas Mark Fields and representatives from FCSD and JDRF along with the winning child and his or her parents will be on hand when the vehicle donning the winning design is unveiled outside the North Entrance of WHQ.
Children from all over the country submitted entries for the JDRF Design Your Own Race Car contest, and people were invited to vote for their favorite design by making a tax-deductible monetary donation to JDRF. This year’s competition raised $43,000 for research to find a cure for Type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease that strikes 15,000 children and 15,000 adults every year.
“The partnership between Ford and JDRF has really been mutually beneficial,” said Edsel Ford II, member of the Ford board of directors and a long-time champion of the JDRF cause. “We can only guess how much our fundraising efforts have helped JDRF in its work. But we walk away with something too. It’s humbling and gratifying to see our employees contribute so much toward a charitable cause – especially one that I hold very close.”
Mania Boyder, executive vice president of development for JDRF, says Ford has been a tremendous partner.
“We are proud to have Ford’s support as we advance research to cure, treat and prevent Type 1 diabetes. We look forward to the unveiling of the creative design by one of our young JDRF volunteers.”
In the final weeks of the contest, Ford encouraged employees to support the contest by offering the first 100 employees who voted and donated $10 or more a Motorcraft Racing hat autographed by Bayne. Those hats will be given out at the WHQ event on Aug. 18.
The Ford official NASCAR merchandise trailer also will be on site at WHQ for the event, and 10 percent of the proceeds from all merchandise sold will go to benefit JDRF.
Design submitted by Katie Hahn.
Design submitted by Jeffrey Nugent.
Design submitted by Sarah D'Errico.
Design submitted by Blake Baumunk.