NHRA - NASCAR showdown

Since Danica Patrick's move to NASCAR there has been a kind of resentment towards them and the media hype surrounding it, for NHRA has had women drivers for decades. And even though there was much "joking" about it, everyone went there separate ways.

That is, until the two professional motor sport groups met in a softball tournament yesterday benefitting the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and The Armed Forces Foundation.

In front of a boisterous crowd at CMC NorthEast Stadium, the two squads of highly competitive drivers met each other in a charity game. The stakes were very high indeed. Bragging rights!!

Needless to say, NHRA steamrolled NASCAR for 19-5 win. Top Fuel driver Morgan Lucas stood on the mound, scattering 8 hits in 7 complete innings while only giving up one earned round. NHRA pounded out 27 hits in the game, with every batter in the line up collecting at least one hit.

Hillary Will practicing (NHRA)

The games highlights were amongst others, Antron Brown's two spectacular catches in center field, female driver Courtney Force grounding a single, Elliot Sadler's great catches and equally impressive hitting, and Woundad Warrior team NASCAR's double amputee Mattias Ferraro blast got one of the biggest ovations of the night. Unfortunately, no women NASCAR driver showed up to play.

Some quotes about the game:

What a great night, and the best part is we raised some money for a couple of great charities," Vandergriff said. "Our guys were really motivated, coming in here to the heart of NASCAR country, and we had quite a bit of excitement and chatter in the dugout. It was fun, and the goal now is to make this an annual thing with the NASCAR guys, and keep it growing. We had a great crowd for this inaugural game, and once the word spreads after this first one I think we'll begin to pack this place.

"It was great to get out there and play, and we all had a blast. I thought everyone on our team played great, and the competitive juices were flowing. We had guys sliding into home to score runs, diving for balls all over the field, and smacking the heck out of it at the plate. I'm already looking forward to the next time we can do this, and I bet the NASCAR guys will have revenge on their minds."

This is what sports is all about, bringing people together and building bridges. We can all learn a lot from this softball game.

Thanks for reading.

Source: NHRA, NASCAR, Wikipedia.
Photo credit: NHRA