September 14, 2025 • 46 mins
This week on Faith In The Zone, Mike McGivern interviews Jason Holt-Executive Director/Chaplain of Indy Car Ministry.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Faith in the Zone on Fox Sports nine twenty.
In your I Hurt Radio app, I mke mcgiven find
solo this week, hoping that Pastor Ken Keltner from Brookside
Baptist Church can get back in studio with me. Next week,
We're coming live from the Donovan and Jorgensen Heating and
Cooling Studios. Any issues you have with your HVAC system
(00:21):
go to Donovan Jorgensen dot com, the largest employee owned
HVAC company in the state of Wisconsin. So I know
a lot about football, basketball, baseball, at least I pretend
I do. I watch him, I know him, I could talk,
and I'm starting to be able to talk a couple
of things about golf, and James is laughing over there
because he's a much better golfer than I am, and
(00:43):
he loves the sport and I'm trying. I am trying.
It is a sport that about halfway through eighteen holes,
I think I'm gonna quit and I'm gonna start bowling
or something, and then all of a sudden, the back nine,
I hit a couple of shots makes me come back
one sort. I don't know. Well, there's a lot of
sports I don't know a ton about, but IndyCar racing
(01:05):
is one of those I've never I've never watched much
of it, i haven't been involved in it, and uh,
I'm excited to learn a little bit more about this
this sport with a guy who absolutely loves it. He
is Jason Holt, the executive director and chaplain for Indie
Car Ministry. And as I talk to Jason, you can
(01:26):
you can learn more about what they do, what their
mission statement is. You go to Indiecarministry dot org, Indycarministry
dot org. Jason Holts, how you doing today?
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Doing fantastic? And hey, thanks so much for having us on.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Yeah, you bet, And I want to thank Bingo Emmins.
Bingo is my co host on My Home improvement show.
Is the owner of Creative Construction, Wisconsin, and his sister
is the doctor for IndyCar Racing and he is such
a every week on that Homiproven show. He wants to
talk NASCAR, wants to talk about truck rates, wants to
talk about Indy and I just put my hands up
(02:04):
like I have no idea what you're talking about. None.
And he is such a big fan and he had
a chance to meet you and and asked you if
you'd have any interest in being on a show like
Faith in the Zone, and you said absolutely. So I
want to thank Bingo and I want to thank you
for giving us the time today. Jason. Give us your background,
(02:25):
where you grew up and where you live now.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Yeah, well that's you know. I appreciate your honesty of
not knowing a whole lot about certain things. And you know,
I think that's one of the things with racing. I've
been blessed to grow up in it. I was raised
in it my entire life, so it's all I've known
and it's one of those things in my own heart
where I love to share how incredible it is, especially
(02:51):
to people that don't know. It's one of my favorite
things of showing people around the racetrack for the first
time because I get to relive that magic a little bit.
But like I said, I was bred into the sport.
My dad had owned Champ cars, which are indy cars
before they became indy cars back in the sixties, and
although he tried to keep me away from it due
(03:13):
to a number of friends of his and peer pressure,
brought me into the sport of racing at a pretty
young age when I started racing go karts and so
from there, racing has just been central in my life
in a lot of ways.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Hey, Jason, does you being an ex driver does that?
Does that help you in being the executive director and
chaplain for INDYECAR Ministry that you've done that and you've
been where they're at.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Yeah, it does, And honestly, it took me a little
while to get there. You know, I didn't make it
to Indy Car. That was my dream. I was born
and raised in Indiana, and as a driver, I had
one goal and one goal only, and that's to take
a green flag at Indianapolis.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Now.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
I grew up watching my heroes race and make it
to the five hundred through sprint cars, and so that's
the avenue I took. I think with what I raced.
Sprint cars are an incredibly barbaric race car and frankly,
all the greatest drivers in history all come from sprint cars.
(04:22):
AJ Foyd, Mario Andretti, Tony Stewart. So because you race
sprint cars like that, gains a lot of respect and
it buys you a voice, and so that does help,
especially knowing the pressures, the stressors and what it's like
to actually strap into a machine.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
So, Jason, here's the first question for a guy that
has no idea what you're talking about. I thought I
thought it was a checkered flag. But what the green
flag is the start of the race? Maybe?
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Yeah, yeah, there you go? Is the start? Yep?
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Yeah, I hate Just so you know, I'm pointing at
James because I got one right, Just so you know
I'm pointed at James. So the green flag starts the race.
There are people going to be listening to this faith
in the zone that has just shaking their head at me.
I thought you were a big sports guy. I am.
I just don't know. I don't know Nascar, I don't
know race, I don't know any of that.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
That's okay, We're here to help.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Yeah, well, I appreciate that. And your dream growing up
was to be able to be in a race at
Indy five hundred. Weren't able to do that. But I
love the fact that that your time behind the wheel,
you think gives you a little bit of voice, and
I think that's that's awesome. Hey, I've spent a lot
of time on your website and I can tell you
(05:44):
that the line on your website. That really jumped out
at me, and you've bolded it, and so maybe that's
why I jumped out of me, But I really appreciate
that sentence of Indycurrent Ministry exists to impact the motorsports
community by connecting we're relationally, supporting mentally and investing spiritually.
(06:04):
What we do that by reflecting the hope of Jesus
through prayer, encouragement, fostering community and serving those in the
Indie Indie Car, Indie NXT and USF Pro Championship Series community.
So that those two sentences for me told me everything
(06:24):
about your organization, about this ministry. And when you talk
about fostering community and serving those that are in this
we're not just talking about the race car drivers. Correct.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
No, Yeah, what's what's interesting And that's where a lot
of people and I understand why they gravitate to the drivers,
right because the drivers are the heroes, are the ones
you know, you're buying T shirts, you're cheering for, which
is great. The drivers are fantastic, But behind every driver
is is an army of people building that car, supporting
(06:59):
that car, working on that car. Those people oftentimes are
putting in in numerous hours, they're gone from their families
upwards of eighty days a year. They work under intense stress.
I mean, imagine, we've all made mistakes, we've all made
mistakes at work, we've all had oops. Is for them,
their oops could cost somebody their life. So working under
(07:20):
that constant pressure. And so you know, for us, that's
a big focal point of our ministry is to serve
the teams and those working behind the scenes.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Hey, Jason sting Ray, Rob was a former guest on
Faith in his zone, and we didn't talk a lot
about actual racing, but each time that I would say
to him, hey, is a young guy. You certainly won
of a lot of awards, and he goes, no, it
wasn't just me. It wasn't me, like I just drive
the car, but this group behind me, this team that
(07:50):
has partnered with me, and it takes a village when
it comes to being a really good race car driver.
And he talked about his father like not Missy. He
missed one race in StingRay's career. He was in the
hospital and he kept calling during the race trying to
get through and tried somebody to put somebody. He was
(08:11):
watching it on TV and he was trying to get
his son some tips from the hospital bed, and it
started laughing and said he couldn't let you just go
one race on of your own. He goes, absolutely not.
He's been at every single race from the time I
was seven or eight years old. But he had to
be in the hospital for this week and it drove
him nuts. But he constantly talked about this community that's
(08:34):
behind it and behind him. And I really like the
fact that, and you know on your website, when you
talk about how we serve and who we serve, and
you talk about some of the things that you guys
are able to do, and then talk about the typical
race weekend, it's such a flurry of activity for your
team because it's not just the race car driver, since
(08:57):
the team, the officials, it's people that are working the
medical team. You guys will lead a devotional service race
mourning for anybody that wants to come. That's part of
this and I'm hoping that you guys get a lot
of people that come to that service.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Jason, Well, it's it's interesting. You know. One way I
try to explain it to people is we really see
our role as missionaries. You know, the motorsports world is
its own culture of people. It's almost like its own
separate country. That just it's a traveling circus that goes
from state to state, and in a way, they have
(09:34):
their own language, their own values, their own I mean,
it's a it's a very unique world that most people
on the outside don't know and don't understand. And so
for us, we are present every race, every day from
morning tonight, walking around, connecting relationally because we truly believe
(09:54):
that's how the hope of Jesus shines bright us is
through relationships that context. And so you know, I think,
I think for us, when it comes down to it,
this community that they face a lot and they're under
so much, but it's also a community that's highly resistant
to the Gospel. You know, you look at for example,
(10:19):
NASCAR there chaplain's m R. Great Guys, great ministry. Well,
NASCAR is primarily based in the South, so christ is
not so much foreign. A lot of people, you know,
are Christians in that environment where an Indie car a
majority of the people are from all over the country,
(10:40):
all over the world. Many are racing on the weekends.
They don't have a centralized you know view of Jesus
or church, and so honestly, we get to serve in
a community that this semi resistant to the Gospel, which
I love.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
It's there's no place I'd rather be.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Hey, Jason, you know you talked about this being a ministry,
and I agree with you more after I spent a
bunch of time on your website. There's also a thing
on your website that it's called fan Outreach, and that's
where I thought, Boy, this is this is a ministry.
I mean, this isn't just you know, you know for
the IndyCar people, but IndyCar, you know, the drivers and
(11:22):
their team. You guys partner with local churches in the
area of the races. The local church provides volunteers who
would then engage, connect and even pray for those who
stop by. And that that opens this whole idea of
Indiecar ministry to me, not only to people that love
race car and gonna come to it to every race,
(11:44):
but guys like me that might just go to one,
or they might just go to two, or might just
watch a couple on TV. But now, when you're in
a community, you guys think about that overall community in
a way that I don't know every ministry does, especially
in the sports world.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Jason, Yeah, I mean, you know, for us, our our
focal point is the traveling circus. But on the same token,
like every track we go to. Man, it's God has
positioned us to be right in the midst of tens
of thousands of people, and so we have a show car,
a retired race car, and then we have a team
(12:22):
of volunteers that tow this race car. I think we're
at about ten events this year, generally right in the
midst of the fan area. And as you said, you know,
our hope is to partner with local churches. You don't
have to know anything about racing, you don't even have
to like racing.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
What we asked is that.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
You like people, that you care about people, because one
thing I've found is when you it's kind of like
the old if you build it, they will come right. Well,
that's what we do, and it's amazing who God brings
to us. We had a partner church in Saint Pete
and this year, I think on Friday alone, the team
prayed with almost fifty people. Wow, fifty people that had
(13:02):
something on their minds that were hurting regardless, like something
going on in their life, and that outreach team got
to serve as a beacon of hope at Indianapolis, you know,
the biggest race in the world. You know, we there's
what four hundred thousand people there, and God has positioned
us to be right in the midst of the fan area.
We got tens of thousands of people walking by, stopping by,
(13:27):
and so it's just that's a whole other side of
our ministry that we used to kind of to try
to impact the communities that we're in hate and the
hope with local churches is that we want to connect
people to the local church. We're going to be gone
in two days. The church is still.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
There on on the website. If you go to Indiecarrministry
dot org and you and you go to Fan Outreach,
there is a tab inquire about Fan Outreach and you
can send them if you have interest getting involved. What
I loved about this is, you know, at over ten
events a year, they set out the IndyCar Ministry trailer
and show card to present with present with the fans.
(14:08):
They then hand out bibles, books, pray with people and
connect them to a local church. And when you hear
Jason hold talk about how important it is to get
people connected to our local churches. I love that because
they're gone in two days. He's right, they're gone in
two days. But the amount of things that they can
accomplish in those two days is really incredible to me.
(14:31):
And when they've dug down deep enough to say, listen,
we have this show card that people are going to
come and take pictures with and see. Why do we
utilize that time to be able to hand out bibles
and talk about local churches to people in this neighborhood.
I think it's just really really good. Last question before
we get to a break, Gideon and Zion, your kid
(14:53):
are your two sons? Are they? Are they a big time,
a big time IndyCar fans or they jumped over to
NASCAR or something?
Speaker 2 (15:00):
No, no, they are. They see the lights, they know good.
So they are Indy Car fan through and through. We
have Yeah, Indy Car.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Is our house.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
How about it is Kelly an IndyCar fan as well?
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Your wife she is?
Speaker 2 (15:19):
You know, God has blessed me with the most amazing
wife because when I met her, she did not know
anything about racing, didn't care about racing. In fact, long
before I knew Jesus. I told her on our second date,
if you're okay with always coming second to racing, we
can keep going. And she stuck by my side through
my career, through ministry, and yeah, she was pretty amazing.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
You know, Jason, I can tell you this that my producer,
James and I have totally I'll kicked our coverage. His
wife's way too good looking for him. My wife's way
too good looking for me. And it's okay if Kelly
is too good looking for you, and I appreciate that.
I can tell you this that James's wife is one
of the best piano players I've ever in any church
(16:02):
I've ever been at, and she is one of the
nicest people that I've ever met, and she's always smiling.
My wife is the same. And I know James is
shaking his head because we've both all kicked our coverage
a bit. We're gonna get to a break. Our special
guest guest is Jason Holt. He's the executive director and
chaplain for Indiecar Ministry. Go to Indiecarministry dot org. When
(16:24):
you go to that website, Guys, if you spend some
time on the website, look at at who they serve,
who they are. If you want to get involved or
if you want to donate, there's a donate button to
keep this ministry going. And Jason's doing a great job.
We will ask him to share his testimony on the
other side of the break. This is Faith in the
(16:45):
Zone on Fox Sports nine twenty and your iHeart Radio App.
Welcome back to Faith in the Zone on Fox Sports
ninety twenty and your iHeart Radio App. Again. I'm Mike
McGivern flying Sola Is this week coming from the Donovan
and Jorgansen he Any Cool Eat Studios our special guest.
I talked more of the first segment about IndyCar racing
(17:05):
than I have, like for sixty some years, and I'm
a grandfather of six, so I love the fact that
Jason's okay talking to a guy other than turning left,
I know they always turn left. Other than that, I
don't know much about this sport, but Jason Holt, the
executive director in Chaplain for Indiecar Ministry, certainly does. Jason.
(17:25):
Segment two for us is our favorite. We've been doing
this around fifteen years now and there is any segment
with Faith and His Zone that we get more of
a response people asking us questions talking to us about
It's segment two when we ask our guests to share
their testimony and if you would be so kind.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Yeah, yeah, And my testimony is closely tied to racing
because you know, again racing growing up, it was central
in my life. It was everything I ever dreamed of.
In effect, you could honestly say racing was the guy
that I worship. I had exposure to Jesus. My parents
would take me to church here and there. I just
remember sleeping in my mom's lap, or you know, we'd
(18:08):
go to church on Easter and Christmas. It wasn't central
in our home though, and racing was my priority, and
that would carry pretty much my entire life. I mean,
I dedicated my life to my career. I was putting
it all on the line so that I could make
it to Indianapolis. And you know, the thing is when
(18:28):
you when you base your life on anything other than Christ,
it's bound to fall. And that's exactly what my life
would happened to me.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
So I.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
It was in two thousand and ten, I was thirty
years old and my wife and I we just hit
a rough patch financially. We were upside down.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
You know.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
We partied a lot. I partied probably way too hard
because in racing, you know, kind of the viewpoint amongst
myself and my friends. We had lost a number of friends.
We tended to treat life very cheaply. So it'd be
a Wednesday at three o'clock and we're, you know, getting
hammered or we're partying, and yeah, and I think that
(19:17):
that just all caught up with us. We made a
lot of poor choices and it all came crashing down.
We had a six month span where anything that could
go wrong did right down to breaking. My wife and
I both broke our arms on the same day on
the same snowboard jump.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
Like it was.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
It's very clear to me now looking back that you know,
although God didn't cause those things, he certainly used those.
And so we showed up at a church one Sunday.
We were one step from divorce, and we had nothing left.
Literally we had nothing left. And I don't remember what
the pastor said, but I remember feeling something. So we
(19:57):
came back the next week, and then we came back
the next week, and then the next week we signed
up for the membership class just to find out more
about You know, I've always if you had asked me
for years, I would have said, yeah, I'm a Christian. Yeah,
I'm a Christian. Because while I was born in America
and I've been to church, I didn't know what that meant.
So we took the membership class and right there the
(20:18):
pastor shared the Gospel in a way that man I could,
I could grab a hold of and I understood. And
it was in that moment my wife and I we
got baptized. And little did I know the brevity of
that decision and what would happen in my life afterwards.
It was the hardest season, but the absolute greatest moment
(20:39):
of my life.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Amen. Amen to that. Hey Jason, during the break, he
had said, Hey, I in your bio it talks about
you surfing and living in Florida now. And I said,
how does a kid from Indiana, you know, he's a
race car guy get into surfing? And you said, look,
I loved to surf and when I left racing, I
(21:01):
had a real disdain for the sport. Did how did
you get back to it?
Speaker 3 (21:06):
Then?
Speaker 1 (21:06):
How did that? How did that happen? Were you? You said, Look,
I no longer I hate the sport. I want to
go back and.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Help well, you know, one of the neat things, and
this is I mean, certainly God's design.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
I So I retired.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
I I am in twenty twelve.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
I was.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
I was driving for somebody, making making money, racing. Everything
was great, had a great night at the racetrack, and
I'm walking across the parking lot. This was a couple
of years after I became a Christian and I felt
God say it's time to step away. I honestly, at
the time I thought that God meant take a break
for a little while. You've been racing for twenty four years.
(21:48):
I'm going to bring you back better than ever. Right,
you know, I think at the time of my infancy
Psalm thirty seven four, to light yourself and the Lord
he gives you the desires of your heart. So that
just means, okay, God, I'm gonna love you.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
You're gonna give me a fan straight car. Naturally.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
I know that's a misinterpretation big time. But at the
time I retired, little did I know that would be it,
that God wouldn't bring me back. It was in that
season that I would go into ministry. But I started
to become bitter in my heart towards racing because I
couldn't do it. It was an idol that literally was
you know, although I sacrificed it, I stepped away. It
(22:25):
was an idol that needed to be rid out of
my life, and in that came a lot of bitterness.
A friend of mine, who was the chaplain for IndyCar
at the time, asked me to lead a Bible study
at the Andretti shop, and so I started doing that.
That was one thing I could do. I didn't make
it to Indy Car, so going to an IndyCar shop
(22:45):
didn't bother me, and so that was one thing that
kept my tie into racing.
Speaker 3 (22:51):
It would be a few.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
Years later that the opportunity to join IndyCar Ministry as
a chaplain would happen as the same time I would
move to Florida, And so really my disdain for racing
was more around my racing and what I raced Indy Car.
You know, I'll always love IndyCar. I'll always love the
five hundred. That'll never change.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
So, hey, when when you get a chance to talk
to some of these guys, did do you find and look?
Race car driving is a very dangerous sport right, It
just is. And and I know the cars are much
safer now than they used to be. And I know
there are some things in the car that if there
is a crash, that keep the driver safe, but it's
(23:32):
still I don't know how fast these cars are going,
but if there's a if there's a wreck, And I'm wondering,
do these do some of some of the race car
drivers who might not want to spend a lot of
time with you, if they happen to get in a crash,
do they then start to come your way a little
bit more and say, hey, listen, maybe I do need
(23:54):
to talk to you.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
You know, I think that's the.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Yes and no, Yes and no. I think at the
end of the day, when tragedy strikes, we go to
medical and we're there every crash, no matter what, and
we're there with the families, there with the girlfriends, the wives,
the team. You know, that's our our presence. There's been
times where I have had drivers that wanted nothing to
(24:22):
do with me, and yet I'm standing there in the
emergency room with them in some of the hardest moments
of their life. You know, I leave it up to
the Lord to open those doors. Sometimes you know, those
those hard crashes are a reminder that life is finite.
Because I think in myself, before I knew Jesus, I
(24:43):
was indestructible when I put my helmet on, like there
was no safer place in the world than my helmet
in my race car. Now sitting on the grand stands,
you would watch what I did in that race car
and think that guy's out of control. But inside the car,
there's no place.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
I'd rather be. Wow.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
That really interesting to me that that a driver would
would And I would assume if I talked to other
drivers they would they would say the same. You know
you would talk to in your segment about about racing
was kind of your God there for a while in
your life. And I believe it was singulary Rob that said,
(25:22):
you know, racing is not a great God. It's not
you feel like it is. But when you said, look,
even if you're the best in in driving, if you
don't have Jesus in your life, you're going to be
it's just going to be hollow. We had pastor Darryl
Strawberry on this show years ago, and and Darryl Strawberry,
who was the best baseball player in the world. At
(25:43):
one point he came on or show and he said, look,
I wanted to be the best baby, the best baseball
player in the world. I wanted more money than anybody.
I wanted the prettiest wife. I wanted the prettiest girlfriends.
I wanted more houses, more drugs, more cars than anybody.
And I got all of it. I had it all,
and I was so depressed and I couldn't figure out why.
(26:04):
And then he ended up going to prison for a
little bit. In his in his prison cell was the Bible,
and he was born in a Christian home, and he
got back into the Bible, and he realized what was
missing in his life. And now him and his wife
do a biblically based rehab facility, two of them for
for for former professional athletes that that you know need
(26:25):
his work and is very biblically based. And when you
said that, I immediately thought of that and thought, man,
even if you had gotten to the green flag at
the Indy five hundred, you still it would not have
been enough for you.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
No, no, and and and that's the thing. I think
one of the realizations that hit me was the fact
that I'm so sitting with a buddy of mine, and
I asked him, I said, hey, who won the.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
Indy five hundred? I think it was like five years ago?
And he goes, I have.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
No idea, I'd have to look it up up. Interesting,
Hey who won the championship last year? Do you remember?
Speaker 3 (27:04):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (27:05):
I can't remember off the top of my head. So
the realization hit me that I've dedicated my life and
I'm racing and I'm working, giving everything i have for
something that frankly, after the race happens, nobody cares, doesn't matter.
Speaker 3 (27:19):
You move on.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Yeah, sure, there's a small amount of people that was
a big deal in that moment, but yeah, it's amazing
how fast it just staded away.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
Jason, I got to tell you this is a different level. Obviously,
been at coach high school basketball and as a high
school basketball coach, and I did it for thirty six years.
You dream about getting through regionals, getting through sectionals, get
into state and one time being able to cut down
the net and what that would be like, and that's
everything you're thinking about, you know, a lot of what
(27:49):
you're thinking about during the season and trying to get
your players prepared and how can we get to that
and get to the mountaintop. And I was lucky enough
throughout my career to win six states championships. And after
the first one, my kids were little, and we got
in the car. We're at the coal Center up in Madison,
and I looked at my wife and I said, that's it,
(28:10):
and she's like, what do you mean? And I go,
I thought there'd be like balloons and Confetti's do I
still have to go to work on Monday? She goes, absolutely,
you have to go to work on Monday. And I
pushed so hard so many years to get to the mountaintop,
and once I got there, it was so shallow and
hollow for me that the next five I enjoyed the
(28:32):
journey a lot. I enjoyed getting these kids to come
together as a team, understand what I needed from them,
what we needed is a staff from them, and then
getting to win a state championship. But I enjoyed it
a lot more after the first one because of that,
because it was just really hollow for me after I
got to the mountaintop.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
Yeah, it's.
Speaker 3 (28:57):
Yeah. That was a really a surreal realization.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
To uh, yeah, hey, can we talk really really quickly
about about this last season? I can't pronounce Alex his
last name is it Palau pull out. He he had
a he had a heck of a year.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
Huh, yeah, he did. Yeah, it was it was incredible.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
I mean he it wasn't even close at the end.
I mean he he destroyed these guys and he won
here in Milwaukee, the Grand Prix Milwaukee, and he uh,
he ended up with a lot of points. And what
does that mean at the end? What Alex is the
champion of Indy Curry? Did he win the Indy five hundred?
By the way, I don't think he did? Yeh he did, Okay.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
Won the championship. I think he won seven races. I
could be off one or two, but I think it
was around seven races this year.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
Man, he uh seven hundred and eleven points, eight wins
by the way, six polls, eight wins. He he's going
to have a bullseye next year. Everybody's going to want
to beat him next year, for sure. Is he Is
he the big name right now in IndyCar?
Speaker 3 (30:10):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (30:10):
Yeah, I mean he's certainly probably one of the more
elite names in the sport for sure.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
You know the one that I can tell you and
I got to get his name. But there's a there's
a guy that Bingo always talks about, and I can
tell you Will Power. He said, Will Power is one
of the nicest people he's ever met. He's just a
really good dude, and he's a really good driver. And
(30:36):
I hope that that's the case, because my friend Bingo
thinks the world of that that young guy.
Speaker 3 (30:42):
He is phenomenal.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
Yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
Will is a great a great guy.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
Hey, we're going to get to a break. Other side
of the break. I've got it. Look, some really basic questions,
some basic questions for Jason Holt when it comes to
IndyCar racing, and I've got more questions regarding IndyCar Ministry. Guys.
They are doing a great job. They really are. And
I love the fact that they understand it's just not
the driver and the team, it's also the neighborhoods that
(31:10):
they go into. It's about finding people a local church,
it's about handing out tracks and handing out Bibles. And
I can tell you that with this team that Jason
Holt manages and certainly works with with IndyCar Ministry, they
get it. They this is exactly what I would think
(31:30):
from the outside looking in. Hey, let's make sure that
we're doing things in these neighborhoods, in these communities that
we're going to spend a couple of days in and
they are doing that. And we'll continue our conversation with
Jason Holt, executive director and chaplain for Indiecar Ministry. This
is Faith in the Zone on Fox Sports nine twenty
(31:50):
and your iHeart Radio app. Welcome back to Faith in
the Zone on Fox Sports nine twenty in your iHeartRadio app.
We are coming from the Donovan and Jorganson Heating and
Cooley Studios. Man I got to thank our guests. He's
Jason Holten, and thank Bingo Emmons from Creative Construction Wisconsin
for the introduction. Jason the executive director and chaplain for
(32:12):
Indiecar Ministry. Go to Indycarministry dot org. During the break,
I'd ask Jason, how are you guys funded? Is IndyCar?
Said no, they do great things for us. They're a
great partner, and but they do not fund us. The
team does not fund us. They exist because people who
love IndyCar and love Jesus. They go on the website
(32:34):
or they've been involved with these guys for a while
and they support them either in a one time or
a monthly or a yearly donation. If you're feeling led
to continue to help this ministry continue, go to Indiecar
Ministry one word Indiecarministry dot org and look for the
donate tap. And I don't care if it's twenty bucks.
(32:56):
I don't twenty bucks, five bucks, one hundred bucks. Everything
helps these guys. And understand Jason's full time. There's another chaplain,
there's seven board members, there's there's ten volunteers these guys,
there's there's a big expense to travel to all of
these different locations and to be able to continue to
do what he does. And the more I spend, the
more time I spend on this website, the more I
(33:19):
I just truly believe. Even though I'm not an Indy
Car Race card, I don't not a fan. I might
become a fan, but this I'm a fan of this ministry.
I'm a huge fan of the ministry. And I was
before I got to the website. And when I got
to the website and read about the things that they do,
who they are, who they serve, and how they go
(33:40):
about it. Guys, I'm gonna I'm gonna send some money
their way. I just am because I want Jason to
to be able to continue to do what he does
at the track in the communities that they go to,
and to be able to not only do it with
the drivers and the people that are fully invested in
this race, in this, in this, they could do it
(34:01):
in different neighborhoods as well, and be able to talk
to people and hand out Bibles and talk about local churches,
which I think are incredible. Hey, Jason, what are the
changes in twenty twenty six? Have they put out the
schedule yet?
Speaker 2 (34:16):
No, So there's a lot up in the air with
the schedule right now. There's already been a number of
announcements and changes. It's been a whirlwind since Nashville. I
think the IndyCar world is lack of better terms, patiently
waiting for that schedule to come out. I know for
us as a ministry, we are seeing God open incredible doors.
(34:39):
You know, We've spent years of being present every day
every race for hours. I mean, we are there the
same time the mechanics show up, and we're there as
late as they are every day. And I think because
of that, God's opened a lot of doors for us.
Well this year especially, we saw during the times where
the schedule was there was a lot of people struggling.
(35:02):
And now because we have the relational equity, we're the
ones that they're coming to, which is a great thing.
But we've realized that I need to start expanding the
ministry and so for next year we're looking at bringing
on some more chaplains to kind of help out and
him effectively and better care for this community.
Speaker 1 (35:21):
So again, guys, when you hear those words, please do
me a favor and go to Indycarministry dot org and
read about this ministry and if you're again feeling led
to help them out, hit the donate button and you
see what Jason's vision is for this is to bring
in more chaplains and serve more people. Hey, Jason, I
(35:44):
also do a high school sports show here on Fox
Sports ninety twenty. We do a segment called the Kernel
Electric Superhero of the Week, and it's a senior in
a local high school here in Milwaukee, and it does
not have to be sports related. It's a kid from
the band, or it could be an athlete, kid from
the band, from drama that somebody in the school that
does great work in the classroom, very active in the school,
(36:07):
and very active giving back to your community. And I
asked them a question that I'm going to ask you
to have that servant leadership heart that you obviously have,
and it just comes out in everything you talk about
is serving other people. I'm wondering, because that's not something
we're born with. That's a learned behavior. And I'm wondering,
(36:27):
where do you believe that you learned that from? Where
did you get that servant leadership heart from?
Speaker 3 (36:34):
Man? I be honest, I've just.
Speaker 2 (36:38):
The more that I dig into Scripture and the more
that I see Christ and how he came to serve
the way that that's modeled for me, that Jesus would
look at me at my worst moment and come to
serve man, I think that's kind of what set the.
Speaker 3 (36:57):
Bar for me.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
I have spent the first thirty years of my life
running from God and being self focused and being all
about me, especially as a race car driver. And so
I think equally there's been a switch that's been flipped
in my heart that I can only attribute to the Lord.
Speaker 1 (37:18):
Amen. Amen to that. Hey, last question and we will
get to a break on your website, you guys talk
about winner winners circles, and I kind of read right
through it, and then I went back to him when
I thought, maybe you guys were in the winter circle
each week and be able to congratulate the winner. That's
not what it is. What these are. No, explain to
(37:41):
our listeners what you guys do with winners circles.
Speaker 3 (37:46):
Yeah, so in.
Speaker 2 (37:46):
About a half a dozen race shops, we actually do
small groups once a week. We've got you know, different
leaders that pretty much they serve in a way, they
are our own little church plants. The little gospel centered
communities within the race shops get together to study the Bible,
share meal together, pray together, and have become a place
(38:10):
of like.
Speaker 3 (38:13):
Information.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
So when something's going on in somebody's life, they turn
to let me know so that we can jump in
with flowers, with meals. We have a whole family care
team to help the wives and kids, especially during the season.
So yeah, so these winter circles, they are just really
an extension of the ministry within the shops each and
every week.
Speaker 1 (38:35):
Man, that's awesome. Jason, are you a Casting Crowns fan?
Do you like their music?
Speaker 3 (38:41):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (38:41):
Yeah, all right, so I'm a big fan of theirs.
And when they come to a community, and they came
to to Milwaukee, I don't know, a couple of years
ago and played at Wisconsin Lutheran College, and I went
out and watched them play, and I know a little
bit about how they came together, and I've since watch
this documentary. But what's interesting when they come to a
(39:03):
different area like Milwaukee, what they'll do is they'll reach
out to youth group leaders from different churches in our neighborhood,
in our in our community, and they'll invite them to
the show and at intermission, they bring them in the
back and they have a quick you know, a water
and a soda and maybe a quick bite to eat,
but they sit and they talk about what they do
(39:24):
in their local church in Georgia with youth with with
their youth group and what's working and what's not working,
and they hand out different pamphlets and they spend a
lot of time with the youth group leaders in different communities.
And it sounds to me a little bit like winter circles.
And what they're doing is they're helping these people by saying, look,
(39:45):
we're praying for you and We're hoping that what you're
doing is working with with the kids in our in
our neighborhoods, in our community and let me we want
you to try this or think about this when you're
doing this with these kids and a little bit it's
similar to Winter Circle where they're they're leaving people in
our community that they've just blessed and they've just kind
(40:07):
of hung out with and just talked about and prayed with.
And I find that really really good work by a
band like Casting Crowns.
Speaker 2 (40:16):
Yeah. Yeah, I think you know, it's you know, for
us with our Winter Circles, they just become these places
of of of community that's spread, like my my Winter
Circle at Andretti. Man, it's crazy what God has done there.
Speaker 3 (40:31):
We used to have about five.
Speaker 2 (40:32):
Or six people every week to where last January we
relaunched and we had over twenty six people in the room.
Speaker 1 (40:40):
Unbelievable. That's a huge jump.
Speaker 2 (40:44):
Yeah, and it has it has massive implications for the team,
Yes it does. And so yeah, we're just seeing God
move in some pretty extraordinary ways right now.
Speaker 1 (40:54):
He is Jason Holt. He's the executive director and chaplain
for Indiecar Ministry to Indiecarrministry Dot Org. We're gonna get
to a break others side of the break. I don't
know if Jason played any other sports. I don't know.
It doesn't sound like you did. But we're gonna ask
him that question. We ask every one of our guests
all the uniforms he's ever put on. Let's find out
what uniform he'd pull out of the closet and get
(41:18):
one more race or one more game. We'll find that
out again. Jason Holt, Executive director chaplain for Indiecar Ministries.
This is Faith in the Zone on Fox Sports nine
twenty and your iHeart Radio app. Welcome back to Faith
in the Zone on Fox Sports ninn twenty and your
iHeart Radio App. I'm Mike mcgiven find solo this week
(41:38):
coming from the Donovan and Jorgenson Heating and Cooling Studios.
I've really enjoyed this hour, I can tell you. Jason Holt,
executive director chaplain for Indiecar Ministry, He's a great ambassador
not only for the ministry but for the sport itself.
And I've got to get out and see one of
these if they get back to Milwaukee. I'm gonna keep
(41:59):
in content with my new best friend Jason Holt and
see if I can't come over to the track and
see what this is all about. Jason. I love this question.
At the end of this show. We always do this,
all the uniforms you've ever put out, whatever sport it is,
We put him in a closet and you get to
pick one uniform out to get one more game, one
more race with that team. What uniform do you pick
(42:22):
and where do you compete? And why?
Speaker 3 (42:27):
You know that's a hard one.
Speaker 2 (42:29):
I'm pretty torn on that one. I would, on the
one hand, I would say I would go back to
what I was just telling you in twenty fourteen driving
for Stensland Motorsports at Eldor Speedway. I would go back
to that night, and honestly I would have a different approach. Generally,
(42:53):
I would think people look back and they would want
to do something different. I would I would step out
of the car and instead of race that night. And
so if there was one night I could go back,
that would be it.
Speaker 1 (43:07):
You would stell explain that to me. If you would,
you would step out instead of race out.
Speaker 2 (43:12):
So my dad passed away in twenty fourteen and he
wanted his ashes spread at our favorite racetrack, which was
Eldor Speedway. By that time I had been retired for
two years. I didn't have a car, I didn't have
a ride, so I was going to have a friend
of mine do it. When I was approached by an
old car owner that said, well, why don't you do it?
And so he put a he built a car for
(43:33):
me to do it. We did the ceremony one night
in front of a you know, a few thousand people,
and I honored my dad and at that point I
would have gotten out instead, he looked at me and said,
do you want a race?
Speaker 3 (43:46):
You bet you?
Speaker 2 (43:47):
So I got out there and was third quick after practice.
As I was pulling into the pits, I got t
boned by a flatbed record doing about sixty. It sent
the car flipping, sent me into a light pole. I
got woken up by the back brace when they were
sticking it in the car. It was such a weird accident,
(44:10):
but it was a very clear accident that God put
an exclamation mark. We're done talking about it. I think
if I could go back that night, I would have
honored my dad and then and then left and stepped away.
Speaker 1 (44:21):
And called it good Amen. You know, I had stepped
away from coaching basketball at a school, and I was
praying about it because my son was a freshman in
college playing basketball and I was missing it because I
had this ministry of coaching other people's kids. And I
kept praying, Lord, do you want me to continue this ministry?
(44:42):
Or do you want me to go watch my son play?
And I thought he would gently tap me on the shoulder, Jason,
and he didn't. I got fired the only time I've
ever been fired at anything in my life. I got
fired because I didn't name a superintendent at that school
son a captain. And it was clearly a way, the
way of the Lord saying and Okay, you're gonna you're
gonna understand. I've been telling you all along you need
(45:03):
to go spend time with your wife watching your son play,
but you haven't listened. Now I'm gonna make it very clear.
And I think the Lord did that to you as well. Yep,
one hundred percent. Jason Holt, thank you so much for
your time. I really appreciate it. If there's anybody within
your group that you think would be a good guest
(45:25):
on faith in his own we have the sponsors we need.
Sometimes it's hard to find guests. If there's anybody that
you think would would would be a good ambassador for IndyCar,
that that you would want me to reach out to,
please let me know. Guys. Indiecarministry dot org, Indycarministry dot org,
go to that website, read through the website, take a
look at who they are, who how they serve, and
(45:48):
if you're feeling led, hit the donate button and send
them a little bit of money to continue this ministry
and it will go a long way. Jason, thank you
so much for cople miss your time.
Speaker 3 (45:59):
Yeah, thanks for having me on. That was fun.
Speaker 1 (46:01):
You got it, Jason, Thank you, James, great job. This
is Faith in the Zone on Fox Sports ninet twenty
in your iHeartRadio app.
Welcome to Faith in the Zone on Fox Sports nine twenty.
In your I Hurt Radio app, I mke mcgiven find
solo this week, hoping that Pastor Ken Keltner from Brookside
Baptist Church can get back in studio with me. Next week,
We're coming live from the Donovan and Jorgensen Heating and
Cooling Studios. Any issues you have with your HVAC system
(00:21):
go to Donovan Jorgensen dot com, the largest employee owned
HVAC company in the state of Wisconsin. So I know
a lot about football, basketball, baseball, at least I pretend
I do. I watch him, I know him, I could talk,
and I'm starting to be able to talk a couple
of things about golf, and James is laughing over there
because he's a much better golfer than I am, and
(00:43):
he loves the sport and I'm trying. I am trying.
It is a sport that about halfway through eighteen holes,
I think I'm gonna quit and I'm gonna start bowling
or something, and then all of a sudden, the back nine,
I hit a couple of shots makes me come back
one sort. I don't know. Well, there's a lot of
sports I don't know a ton about, but IndyCar racing
(01:05):
is one of those I've never I've never watched much
of it, i haven't been involved in it, and uh,
I'm excited to learn a little bit more about this
this sport with a guy who absolutely loves it. He
is Jason Holt, the executive director and chaplain for Indie
Car Ministry. And as I talk to Jason, you can
(01:26):
you can learn more about what they do, what their
mission statement is. You go to Indiecarministry dot org, Indycarministry
dot org. Jason Holts, how you doing today?
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Doing fantastic? And hey, thanks so much for having us on.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Yeah, you bet, And I want to thank Bingo Emmins.
Bingo is my co host on My Home improvement show.
Is the owner of Creative Construction, Wisconsin, and his sister
is the doctor for IndyCar Racing and he is such
a every week on that Homiproven show. He wants to
talk NASCAR, wants to talk about truck rates, wants to
talk about Indy and I just put my hands up
(02:04):
like I have no idea what you're talking about. None.
And he is such a big fan and he had
a chance to meet you and and asked you if
you'd have any interest in being on a show like
Faith in the Zone, and you said absolutely. So I
want to thank Bingo and I want to thank you
for giving us the time today. Jason. Give us your background,
(02:25):
where you grew up and where you live now.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Yeah, well that's you know. I appreciate your honesty of
not knowing a whole lot about certain things. And you know,
I think that's one of the things with racing. I've
been blessed to grow up in it. I was raised
in it my entire life, so it's all I've known
and it's one of those things in my own heart
where I love to share how incredible it is, especially
(02:51):
to people that don't know. It's one of my favorite
things of showing people around the racetrack for the first
time because I get to relive that magic a little bit.
But like I said, I was bred into the sport.
My dad had owned Champ cars, which are indy cars
before they became indy cars back in the sixties, and
although he tried to keep me away from it due
(03:13):
to a number of friends of his and peer pressure,
brought me into the sport of racing at a pretty
young age when I started racing go karts and so
from there, racing has just been central in my life
in a lot of ways.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Hey, Jason, does you being an ex driver does that?
Does that help you in being the executive director and
chaplain for INDYECAR Ministry that you've done that and you've
been where they're at.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Yeah, it does, And honestly, it took me a little
while to get there. You know, I didn't make it
to Indy Car. That was my dream. I was born
and raised in Indiana, and as a driver, I had
one goal and one goal only, and that's to take
a green flag at Indianapolis.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Now.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
I grew up watching my heroes race and make it
to the five hundred through sprint cars, and so that's
the avenue I took. I think with what I raced.
Sprint cars are an incredibly barbaric race car and frankly,
all the greatest drivers in history all come from sprint cars.
(04:22):
AJ Foyd, Mario Andretti, Tony Stewart. So because you race
sprint cars like that, gains a lot of respect and
it buys you a voice, and so that does help,
especially knowing the pressures, the stressors and what it's like
to actually strap into a machine.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
So, Jason, here's the first question for a guy that
has no idea what you're talking about. I thought I
thought it was a checkered flag. But what the green
flag is the start of the race? Maybe?
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Yeah, yeah, there you go? Is the start? Yep?
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Yeah, I hate Just so you know, I'm pointing at
James because I got one right, Just so you know
I'm pointed at James. So the green flag starts the race.
There are people going to be listening to this faith
in the zone that has just shaking their head at me.
I thought you were a big sports guy. I am.
I just don't know. I don't know Nascar, I don't
know race, I don't know any of that.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
That's okay, We're here to help.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Yeah, well, I appreciate that. And your dream growing up
was to be able to be in a race at
Indy five hundred. Weren't able to do that. But I
love the fact that that your time behind the wheel,
you think gives you a little bit of voice, and
I think that's that's awesome. Hey, I've spent a lot
of time on your website and I can tell you
(05:44):
that the line on your website. That really jumped out
at me, and you've bolded it, and so maybe that's
why I jumped out of me, But I really appreciate
that sentence of Indycurrent Ministry exists to impact the motorsports
community by connecting we're relationally, supporting mentally and investing spiritually.
(06:04):
What we do that by reflecting the hope of Jesus
through prayer, encouragement, fostering community and serving those in the
Indie Indie Car, Indie NXT and USF Pro Championship Series community.
So that those two sentences for me told me everything
(06:24):
about your organization, about this ministry. And when you talk
about fostering community and serving those that are in this
we're not just talking about the race car drivers. Correct.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
No, Yeah, what's what's interesting And that's where a lot
of people and I understand why they gravitate to the drivers,
right because the drivers are the heroes, are the ones
you know, you're buying T shirts, you're cheering for, which
is great. The drivers are fantastic, But behind every driver
is is an army of people building that car, supporting
(06:59):
that car, working on that car. Those people oftentimes are
putting in in numerous hours, they're gone from their families
upwards of eighty days a year. They work under intense stress.
I mean, imagine, we've all made mistakes, we've all made
mistakes at work, we've all had oops. Is for them,
their oops could cost somebody their life. So working under
(07:20):
that constant pressure. And so you know, for us, that's
a big focal point of our ministry is to serve
the teams and those working behind the scenes.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Hey, Jason sting Ray, Rob was a former guest on
Faith in his zone, and we didn't talk a lot
about actual racing, but each time that I would say
to him, hey, is a young guy. You certainly won
of a lot of awards, and he goes, no, it
wasn't just me. It wasn't me, like I just drive
the car, but this group behind me, this team that
(07:50):
has partnered with me, and it takes a village when
it comes to being a really good race car driver.
And he talked about his father like not Missy. He
missed one race in StingRay's career. He was in the
hospital and he kept calling during the race trying to
get through and tried somebody to put somebody. He was
(08:11):
watching it on TV and he was trying to get
his son some tips from the hospital bed, and it
started laughing and said he couldn't let you just go
one race on of your own. He goes, absolutely not.
He's been at every single race from the time I
was seven or eight years old. But he had to
be in the hospital for this week and it drove
him nuts. But he constantly talked about this community that's
(08:34):
behind it and behind him. And I really like the
fact that, and you know on your website, when you
talk about how we serve and who we serve, and
you talk about some of the things that you guys
are able to do, and then talk about the typical
race weekend, it's such a flurry of activity for your
team because it's not just the race car driver, since
(08:57):
the team, the officials, it's people that are working the
medical team. You guys will lead a devotional service race
mourning for anybody that wants to come. That's part of
this and I'm hoping that you guys get a lot
of people that come to that service.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Jason, Well, it's it's interesting. You know. One way I
try to explain it to people is we really see
our role as missionaries. You know, the motorsports world is
its own culture of people. It's almost like its own
separate country. That just it's a traveling circus that goes
from state to state, and in a way, they have
(09:34):
their own language, their own values, their own I mean,
it's a it's a very unique world that most people
on the outside don't know and don't understand. And so
for us, we are present every race, every day from
morning tonight, walking around, connecting relationally because we truly believe
(09:54):
that's how the hope of Jesus shines bright us is
through relationships that context. And so you know, I think,
I think for us, when it comes down to it,
this community that they face a lot and they're under
so much, but it's also a community that's highly resistant
to the Gospel. You know, you look at for example,
(10:19):
NASCAR there chaplain's m R. Great Guys, great ministry. Well,
NASCAR is primarily based in the South, so christ is
not so much foreign. A lot of people, you know,
are Christians in that environment where an Indie car a
majority of the people are from all over the country,
(10:40):
all over the world. Many are racing on the weekends.
They don't have a centralized you know view of Jesus
or church, and so honestly, we get to serve in
a community that this semi resistant to the Gospel, which
I love.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
It's there's no place I'd rather be.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Hey, Jason, you know you talked about this being a ministry,
and I agree with you more after I spent a
bunch of time on your website. There's also a thing
on your website that it's called fan Outreach, and that's
where I thought, Boy, this is this is a ministry.
I mean, this isn't just you know, you know for
the IndyCar people, but IndyCar, you know, the drivers and
(11:22):
their team. You guys partner with local churches in the
area of the races. The local church provides volunteers who
would then engage, connect and even pray for those who
stop by. And that that opens this whole idea of
Indiecar ministry to me, not only to people that love
race car and gonna come to it to every race,
(11:44):
but guys like me that might just go to one,
or they might just go to two, or might just
watch a couple on TV. But now, when you're in
a community, you guys think about that overall community in
a way that I don't know every ministry does, especially
in the sports world.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Jason, Yeah, I mean, you know, for us, our our
focal point is the traveling circus. But on the same token,
like every track we go to. Man, it's God has
positioned us to be right in the midst of tens
of thousands of people, and so we have a show car,
a retired race car, and then we have a team
(12:22):
of volunteers that tow this race car. I think we're
at about ten events this year, generally right in the
midst of the fan area. And as you said, you know,
our hope is to partner with local churches. You don't
have to know anything about racing, you don't even have
to like racing.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
What we asked is that.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
You like people, that you care about people, because one
thing I've found is when you it's kind of like
the old if you build it, they will come right. Well,
that's what we do, and it's amazing who God brings
to us. We had a partner church in Saint Pete
and this year, I think on Friday alone, the team
prayed with almost fifty people. Wow, fifty people that had
(13:02):
something on their minds that were hurting regardless, like something
going on in their life, and that outreach team got
to serve as a beacon of hope at Indianapolis, you know,
the biggest race in the world. You know, we there's
what four hundred thousand people there, and God has positioned
us to be right in the midst of the fan area.
We got tens of thousands of people walking by, stopping by,
(13:27):
and so it's just that's a whole other side of
our ministry that we used to kind of to try
to impact the communities that we're in hate and the
hope with local churches is that we want to connect
people to the local church. We're going to be gone
in two days. The church is still.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
There on on the website. If you go to Indiecarrministry
dot org and you and you go to Fan Outreach,
there is a tab inquire about Fan Outreach and you
can send them if you have interest getting involved. What
I loved about this is, you know, at over ten
events a year, they set out the IndyCar Ministry trailer
and show card to present with present with the fans.
(14:08):
They then hand out bibles, books, pray with people and
connect them to a local church. And when you hear
Jason hold talk about how important it is to get
people connected to our local churches. I love that because
they're gone in two days. He's right, they're gone in
two days. But the amount of things that they can
accomplish in those two days is really incredible to me.
(14:31):
And when they've dug down deep enough to say, listen,
we have this show card that people are going to
come and take pictures with and see. Why do we
utilize that time to be able to hand out bibles
and talk about local churches to people in this neighborhood.
I think it's just really really good. Last question before
we get to a break, Gideon and Zion, your kid
(14:53):
are your two sons? Are they? Are they a big time,
a big time IndyCar fans or they jumped over to
NASCAR or something?
Speaker 2 (15:00):
No, no, they are. They see the lights, they know good.
So they are Indy Car fan through and through. We
have Yeah, Indy Car.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Is our house.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
How about it is Kelly an IndyCar fan as well?
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Your wife she is?
Speaker 2 (15:19):
You know, God has blessed me with the most amazing
wife because when I met her, she did not know
anything about racing, didn't care about racing. In fact, long
before I knew Jesus. I told her on our second date,
if you're okay with always coming second to racing, we
can keep going. And she stuck by my side through
my career, through ministry, and yeah, she was pretty amazing.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
You know, Jason, I can tell you this that my producer,
James and I have totally I'll kicked our coverage. His
wife's way too good looking for him. My wife's way
too good looking for me. And it's okay if Kelly
is too good looking for you, and I appreciate that.
I can tell you this that James's wife is one
of the best piano players I've ever in any church
(16:02):
I've ever been at, and she is one of the
nicest people that I've ever met, and she's always smiling.
My wife is the same. And I know James is
shaking his head because we've both all kicked our coverage
a bit. We're gonna get to a break. Our special
guest guest is Jason Holt. He's the executive director and
chaplain for Indiecar Ministry. Go to Indiecarministry dot org. When
(16:24):
you go to that website, Guys, if you spend some
time on the website, look at at who they serve,
who they are. If you want to get involved or
if you want to donate, there's a donate button to
keep this ministry going. And Jason's doing a great job.
We will ask him to share his testimony on the
other side of the break. This is Faith in the
(16:45):
Zone on Fox Sports nine twenty and your iHeart Radio App.
Welcome back to Faith in the Zone on Fox Sports
ninety twenty and your iHeart Radio App. Again. I'm Mike
McGivern flying Sola Is this week coming from the Donovan
and Jorgansen he Any Cool Eat Studios our special guest.
I talked more of the first segment about IndyCar racing
(17:05):
than I have, like for sixty some years, and I'm
a grandfather of six, so I love the fact that
Jason's okay talking to a guy other than turning left,
I know they always turn left. Other than that, I
don't know much about this sport, but Jason Holt, the
executive director in Chaplain for Indiecar Ministry, certainly does. Jason.
(17:25):
Segment two for us is our favorite. We've been doing
this around fifteen years now and there is any segment
with Faith and His Zone that we get more of
a response people asking us questions talking to us about
It's segment two when we ask our guests to share
their testimony and if you would be so kind.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Yeah, yeah, And my testimony is closely tied to racing
because you know, again racing growing up, it was central
in my life. It was everything I ever dreamed of.
In effect, you could honestly say racing was the guy
that I worship. I had exposure to Jesus. My parents
would take me to church here and there. I just
remember sleeping in my mom's lap, or you know, we'd
(18:08):
go to church on Easter and Christmas. It wasn't central
in our home though, and racing was my priority, and
that would carry pretty much my entire life. I mean,
I dedicated my life to my career. I was putting
it all on the line so that I could make
it to Indianapolis. And you know, the thing is when
(18:28):
you when you base your life on anything other than Christ,
it's bound to fall. And that's exactly what my life
would happened to me.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
So I.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
It was in two thousand and ten, I was thirty
years old and my wife and I we just hit
a rough patch financially. We were upside down.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
You know.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
We partied a lot. I partied probably way too hard
because in racing, you know, kind of the viewpoint amongst
myself and my friends. We had lost a number of friends.
We tended to treat life very cheaply. So it'd be
a Wednesday at three o'clock and we're, you know, getting
hammered or we're partying, and yeah, and I think that
(19:17):
that just all caught up with us. We made a
lot of poor choices and it all came crashing down.
We had a six month span where anything that could
go wrong did right down to breaking. My wife and
I both broke our arms on the same day on
the same snowboard jump.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
Like it was.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
It's very clear to me now looking back that you know,
although God didn't cause those things, he certainly used those.
And so we showed up at a church one Sunday.
We were one step from divorce, and we had nothing left.
Literally we had nothing left. And I don't remember what
the pastor said, but I remember feeling something. So we
(19:57):
came back the next week, and then we came back
the next week, and then the next week we signed
up for the membership class just to find out more
about You know, I've always if you had asked me
for years, I would have said, yeah, I'm a Christian. Yeah,
I'm a Christian. Because while I was born in America
and I've been to church, I didn't know what that meant.
So we took the membership class and right there the
(20:18):
pastor shared the Gospel in a way that man I could,
I could grab a hold of and I understood. And
it was in that moment my wife and I we
got baptized. And little did I know the brevity of
that decision and what would happen in my life afterwards.
It was the hardest season, but the absolute greatest moment
(20:39):
of my life.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Amen. Amen to that. Hey Jason, during the break, he
had said, Hey, I in your bio it talks about
you surfing and living in Florida now. And I said,
how does a kid from Indiana, you know, he's a
race car guy get into surfing? And you said, look,
I loved to surf and when I left racing, I
(21:01):
had a real disdain for the sport. Did how did
you get back to it?
Speaker 3 (21:06):
Then?
Speaker 1 (21:06):
How did that? How did that happen? Were you? You said, Look,
I no longer I hate the sport. I want to
go back and.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Help well, you know, one of the neat things, and
this is I mean, certainly God's design.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
I So I retired.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
I I am in twenty twelve.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
I was.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
I was driving for somebody, making making money, racing. Everything
was great, had a great night at the racetrack, and
I'm walking across the parking lot. This was a couple
of years after I became a Christian and I felt
God say it's time to step away. I honestly, at
the time I thought that God meant take a break
for a little while. You've been racing for twenty four years.
(21:48):
I'm going to bring you back better than ever. Right,
you know, I think at the time of my infancy
Psalm thirty seven four, to light yourself and the Lord
he gives you the desires of your heart. So that
just means, okay, God, I'm gonna love you.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
You're gonna give me a fan straight car. Naturally.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
I know that's a misinterpretation big time. But at the
time I retired, little did I know that would be it,
that God wouldn't bring me back. It was in that
season that I would go into ministry. But I started
to become bitter in my heart towards racing because I
couldn't do it. It was an idol that literally was
you know, although I sacrificed it, I stepped away. It
(22:25):
was an idol that needed to be rid out of
my life, and in that came a lot of bitterness.
A friend of mine, who was the chaplain for IndyCar
at the time, asked me to lead a Bible study
at the Andretti shop, and so I started doing that.
That was one thing I could do. I didn't make
it to Indy Car, so going to an IndyCar shop
(22:45):
didn't bother me, and so that was one thing that
kept my tie into racing.
Speaker 3 (22:51):
It would be a few.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
Years later that the opportunity to join IndyCar Ministry as
a chaplain would happen as the same time I would
move to Florida, And so really my disdain for racing
was more around my racing and what I raced Indy Car.
You know, I'll always love IndyCar. I'll always love the
five hundred. That'll never change.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
So, hey, when when you get a chance to talk
to some of these guys, did do you find and look?
Race car driving is a very dangerous sport right, It
just is. And and I know the cars are much
safer now than they used to be. And I know
there are some things in the car that if there
is a crash, that keep the driver safe, but it's
(23:32):
still I don't know how fast these cars are going,
but if there's a if there's a wreck, And I'm wondering,
do these do some of some of the race car
drivers who might not want to spend a lot of
time with you, if they happen to get in a crash,
do they then start to come your way a little
bit more and say, hey, listen, maybe I do need
(23:54):
to talk to you.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
You know, I think that's the.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Yes and no, Yes and no. I think at the
end of the day, when tragedy strikes, we go to
medical and we're there every crash, no matter what, and
we're there with the families, there with the girlfriends, the wives,
the team. You know, that's our our presence. There's been
times where I have had drivers that wanted nothing to
(24:22):
do with me, and yet I'm standing there in the
emergency room with them in some of the hardest moments
of their life. You know, I leave it up to
the Lord to open those doors. Sometimes you know, those
those hard crashes are a reminder that life is finite.
Because I think in myself, before I knew Jesus, I
(24:43):
was indestructible when I put my helmet on, like there
was no safer place in the world than my helmet
in my race car. Now sitting on the grand stands,
you would watch what I did in that race car
and think that guy's out of control. But inside the car,
there's no place.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
I'd rather be. Wow.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
That really interesting to me that that a driver would
would And I would assume if I talked to other
drivers they would they would say the same. You know
you would talk to in your segment about about racing
was kind of your God there for a while in
your life. And I believe it was singulary Rob that said,
(25:22):
you know, racing is not a great God. It's not
you feel like it is. But when you said, look,
even if you're the best in in driving, if you
don't have Jesus in your life, you're going to be
it's just going to be hollow. We had pastor Darryl
Strawberry on this show years ago, and and Darryl Strawberry,
who was the best baseball player in the world. At
(25:43):
one point he came on or show and he said, look,
I wanted to be the best baby, the best baseball
player in the world. I wanted more money than anybody.
I wanted the prettiest wife. I wanted the prettiest girlfriends.
I wanted more houses, more drugs, more cars than anybody.
And I got all of it. I had it all,
and I was so depressed and I couldn't figure out why.
(26:04):
And then he ended up going to prison for a
little bit. In his in his prison cell was the Bible,
and he was born in a Christian home, and he
got back into the Bible, and he realized what was
missing in his life. And now him and his wife
do a biblically based rehab facility, two of them for
for for former professional athletes that that you know need
(26:25):
his work and is very biblically based. And when you
said that, I immediately thought of that and thought, man,
even if you had gotten to the green flag at
the Indy five hundred, you still it would not have
been enough for you.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
No, no, and and and that's the thing. I think
one of the realizations that hit me was the fact
that I'm so sitting with a buddy of mine, and
I asked him, I said, hey, who won the.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
Indy five hundred? I think it was like five years ago?
And he goes, I have.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
No idea, I'd have to look it up up. Interesting,
Hey who won the championship last year? Do you remember?
Speaker 3 (27:04):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (27:05):
I can't remember off the top of my head. So
the realization hit me that I've dedicated my life and
I'm racing and I'm working, giving everything i have for
something that frankly, after the race happens, nobody cares, doesn't matter.
Speaker 3 (27:19):
You move on.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Yeah, sure, there's a small amount of people that was
a big deal in that moment, but yeah, it's amazing
how fast it just staded away.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
Jason, I got to tell you this is a different level. Obviously,
been at coach high school basketball and as a high
school basketball coach, and I did it for thirty six years.
You dream about getting through regionals, getting through sectionals, get
into state and one time being able to cut down
the net and what that would be like, and that's
everything you're thinking about, you know, a lot of what
(27:49):
you're thinking about during the season and trying to get
your players prepared and how can we get to that
and get to the mountaintop. And I was lucky enough
throughout my career to win six states championships. And after
the first one, my kids were little, and we got
in the car. We're at the coal Center up in Madison,
and I looked at my wife and I said, that's it,
(28:10):
and she's like, what do you mean? And I go,
I thought there'd be like balloons and Confetti's do I
still have to go to work on Monday? She goes, absolutely,
you have to go to work on Monday. And I
pushed so hard so many years to get to the mountaintop,
and once I got there, it was so shallow and
hollow for me that the next five I enjoyed the
(28:32):
journey a lot. I enjoyed getting these kids to come
together as a team, understand what I needed from them,
what we needed is a staff from them, and then
getting to win a state championship. But I enjoyed it
a lot more after the first one because of that,
because it was just really hollow for me after I
got to the mountaintop.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
Yeah, it's.
Speaker 3 (28:57):
Yeah. That was a really a surreal realization.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
To uh, yeah, hey, can we talk really really quickly
about about this last season? I can't pronounce Alex his
last name is it Palau pull out. He he had
a he had a heck of a year.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
Huh, yeah, he did. Yeah, it was it was incredible.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
I mean he it wasn't even close at the end.
I mean he he destroyed these guys and he won
here in Milwaukee, the Grand Prix Milwaukee, and he uh,
he ended up with a lot of points. And what
does that mean at the end? What Alex is the
champion of Indy Curry? Did he win the Indy five hundred?
By the way, I don't think he did? Yeh he did, Okay.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
Won the championship. I think he won seven races. I
could be off one or two, but I think it
was around seven races this year.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
Man, he uh seven hundred and eleven points, eight wins
by the way, six polls, eight wins. He he's going
to have a bullseye next year. Everybody's going to want
to beat him next year, for sure. Is he Is
he the big name right now in IndyCar?
Speaker 3 (30:10):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (30:10):
Yeah, I mean he's certainly probably one of the more
elite names in the sport for sure.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
You know the one that I can tell you and
I got to get his name. But there's a there's
a guy that Bingo always talks about, and I can
tell you Will Power. He said, Will Power is one
of the nicest people he's ever met. He's just a
really good dude, and he's a really good driver. And
(30:36):
I hope that that's the case, because my friend Bingo
thinks the world of that that young guy.
Speaker 3 (30:42):
He is phenomenal.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
Yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
Will is a great a great guy.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
Hey, we're going to get to a break. Other side
of the break. I've got it. Look, some really basic questions,
some basic questions for Jason Holt when it comes to
IndyCar racing, and I've got more questions regarding IndyCar Ministry. Guys.
They are doing a great job. They really are. And
I love the fact that they understand it's just not
the driver and the team, it's also the neighborhoods that
(31:10):
they go into. It's about finding people a local church,
it's about handing out tracks and handing out Bibles. And
I can tell you that with this team that Jason
Holt manages and certainly works with with IndyCar Ministry, they
get it. They this is exactly what I would think
(31:30):
from the outside looking in. Hey, let's make sure that
we're doing things in these neighborhoods, in these communities that
we're going to spend a couple of days in and
they are doing that. And we'll continue our conversation with
Jason Holt, executive director and chaplain for Indiecar Ministry. This
is Faith in the Zone on Fox Sports nine twenty
(31:50):
and your iHeart Radio app. Welcome back to Faith in
the Zone on Fox Sports nine twenty in your iHeartRadio app.
We are coming from the Donovan and Jorganson Heating and
Cooley Studios. Man I got to thank our guests. He's
Jason Holten, and thank Bingo Emmons from Creative Construction Wisconsin
for the introduction. Jason the executive director and chaplain for
(32:12):
Indiecar Ministry. Go to Indycarministry dot org. During the break,
I'd ask Jason, how are you guys funded? Is IndyCar?
Said no, they do great things for us. They're a
great partner, and but they do not fund us. The
team does not fund us. They exist because people who
love IndyCar and love Jesus. They go on the website
(32:34):
or they've been involved with these guys for a while
and they support them either in a one time or
a monthly or a yearly donation. If you're feeling led
to continue to help this ministry continue, go to Indiecar
Ministry one word Indiecarministry dot org and look for the
donate tap. And I don't care if it's twenty bucks.
(32:56):
I don't twenty bucks, five bucks, one hundred bucks. Everything
helps these guys. And understand Jason's full time. There's another chaplain,
there's seven board members, there's there's ten volunteers these guys,
there's there's a big expense to travel to all of
these different locations and to be able to continue to
do what he does. And the more I spend, the
more time I spend on this website, the more I
(33:19):
I just truly believe. Even though I'm not an Indy
Car Race card, I don't not a fan. I might
become a fan, but this I'm a fan of this ministry.
I'm a huge fan of the ministry. And I was
before I got to the website. And when I got
to the website and read about the things that they do,
who they are, who they serve, and how they go
(33:40):
about it. Guys, I'm gonna I'm gonna send some money
their way. I just am because I want Jason to
to be able to continue to do what he does
at the track in the communities that they go to,
and to be able to not only do it with
the drivers and the people that are fully invested in
this race, in this, in this, they could do it
(34:01):
in different neighborhoods as well, and be able to talk
to people and hand out Bibles and talk about local churches,
which I think are incredible. Hey, Jason, what are the
changes in twenty twenty six? Have they put out the
schedule yet?
Speaker 2 (34:16):
No, So there's a lot up in the air with
the schedule right now. There's already been a number of
announcements and changes. It's been a whirlwind since Nashville. I
think the IndyCar world is lack of better terms, patiently
waiting for that schedule to come out. I know for
us as a ministry, we are seeing God open incredible doors.
(34:39):
You know, We've spent years of being present every day
every race for hours. I mean, we are there the
same time the mechanics show up, and we're there as
late as they are every day. And I think because
of that, God's opened a lot of doors for us.
Well this year especially, we saw during the times where
the schedule was there was a lot of people struggling.
(35:02):
And now because we have the relational equity, we're the
ones that they're coming to, which is a great thing.
But we've realized that I need to start expanding the
ministry and so for next year we're looking at bringing
on some more chaplains to kind of help out and
him effectively and better care for this community.
Speaker 1 (35:21):
So again, guys, when you hear those words, please do
me a favor and go to Indycarministry dot org and
read about this ministry and if you're again feeling led
to help them out, hit the donate button and you
see what Jason's vision is for this is to bring
in more chaplains and serve more people. Hey, Jason, I
(35:44):
also do a high school sports show here on Fox
Sports ninety twenty. We do a segment called the Kernel
Electric Superhero of the Week, and it's a senior in
a local high school here in Milwaukee, and it does
not have to be sports related. It's a kid from
the band, or it could be an athlete, kid from
the band, from drama that somebody in the school that
does great work in the classroom, very active in the school,
(36:07):
and very active giving back to your community. And I
asked them a question that I'm going to ask you
to have that servant leadership heart that you obviously have,
and it just comes out in everything you talk about
is serving other people. I'm wondering, because that's not something
we're born with. That's a learned behavior. And I'm wondering,
(36:27):
where do you believe that you learned that from? Where
did you get that servant leadership heart from?
Speaker 3 (36:34):
Man? I be honest, I've just.
Speaker 2 (36:38):
The more that I dig into Scripture and the more
that I see Christ and how he came to serve
the way that that's modeled for me, that Jesus would
look at me at my worst moment and come to
serve man, I think that's kind of what set the.
Speaker 3 (36:57):
Bar for me.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
I have spent the first thirty years of my life
running from God and being self focused and being all
about me, especially as a race car driver. And so
I think equally there's been a switch that's been flipped
in my heart that I can only attribute to the Lord.
Speaker 1 (37:18):
Amen. Amen to that. Hey, last question and we will
get to a break on your website, you guys talk
about winner winners circles, and I kind of read right
through it, and then I went back to him when
I thought, maybe you guys were in the winter circle
each week and be able to congratulate the winner. That's
not what it is. What these are. No, explain to
(37:41):
our listeners what you guys do with winners circles.
Speaker 3 (37:46):
Yeah, so in.
Speaker 2 (37:46):
About a half a dozen race shops, we actually do
small groups once a week. We've got you know, different
leaders that pretty much they serve in a way, they
are our own little church plants. The little gospel centered
communities within the race shops get together to study the Bible,
share meal together, pray together, and have become a place
(38:10):
of like.
Speaker 3 (38:13):
Information.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
So when something's going on in somebody's life, they turn
to let me know so that we can jump in
with flowers, with meals. We have a whole family care
team to help the wives and kids, especially during the season.
So yeah, so these winter circles, they are just really
an extension of the ministry within the shops each and
every week.
Speaker 1 (38:35):
Man, that's awesome. Jason, are you a Casting Crowns fan?
Do you like their music?
Speaker 3 (38:41):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (38:41):
Yeah, all right, so I'm a big fan of theirs.
And when they come to a community, and they came
to to Milwaukee, I don't know, a couple of years
ago and played at Wisconsin Lutheran College, and I went
out and watched them play, and I know a little
bit about how they came together, and I've since watch
this documentary. But what's interesting when they come to a
(39:03):
different area like Milwaukee, what they'll do is they'll reach
out to youth group leaders from different churches in our neighborhood,
in our in our community, and they'll invite them to
the show and at intermission, they bring them in the
back and they have a quick you know, a water
and a soda and maybe a quick bite to eat,
but they sit and they talk about what they do
(39:24):
in their local church in Georgia with youth with with
their youth group and what's working and what's not working,
and they hand out different pamphlets and they spend a
lot of time with the youth group leaders in different communities.
And it sounds to me a little bit like winter circles.
And what they're doing is they're helping these people by saying, look,
(39:45):
we're praying for you and We're hoping that what you're
doing is working with with the kids in our in
our neighborhoods, in our community and let me we want
you to try this or think about this when you're
doing this with these kids and a little bit it's
similar to Winter Circle where they're they're leaving people in
our community that they've just blessed and they've just kind
(40:07):
of hung out with and just talked about and prayed with.
And I find that really really good work by a
band like Casting Crowns.
Speaker 2 (40:16):
Yeah. Yeah, I think you know, it's you know, for
us with our Winter Circles, they just become these places
of of of community that's spread, like my my Winter
Circle at Andretti. Man, it's crazy what God has done there.
Speaker 3 (40:31):
We used to have about five.
Speaker 2 (40:32):
Or six people every week to where last January we
relaunched and we had over twenty six people in the room.
Speaker 1 (40:40):
Unbelievable. That's a huge jump.
Speaker 2 (40:44):
Yeah, and it has it has massive implications for the team,
Yes it does. And so yeah, we're just seeing God
move in some pretty extraordinary ways right now.
Speaker 1 (40:54):
He is Jason Holt. He's the executive director and chaplain
for Indiecar Ministry to Indiecarrministry Dot Org. We're gonna get
to a break others side of the break. I don't
know if Jason played any other sports. I don't know.
It doesn't sound like you did. But we're gonna ask
him that question. We ask every one of our guests
all the uniforms he's ever put on. Let's find out
what uniform he'd pull out of the closet and get
(41:18):
one more race or one more game. We'll find that
out again. Jason Holt, Executive director chaplain for Indiecar Ministries.
This is Faith in the Zone on Fox Sports nine
twenty and your iHeart Radio app. Welcome back to Faith
in the Zone on Fox Sports ninn twenty and your
iHeart Radio App. I'm Mike mcgiven find solo this week
(41:38):
coming from the Donovan and Jorgenson Heating and Cooling Studios.
I've really enjoyed this hour, I can tell you. Jason Holt,
executive director chaplain for Indiecar Ministry, He's a great ambassador
not only for the ministry but for the sport itself.
And I've got to get out and see one of
these if they get back to Milwaukee. I'm gonna keep
(41:59):
in content with my new best friend Jason Holt and
see if I can't come over to the track and
see what this is all about. Jason. I love this question.
At the end of this show. We always do this,
all the uniforms you've ever put out, whatever sport it is,
We put him in a closet and you get to
pick one uniform out to get one more game, one
more race with that team. What uniform do you pick
(42:22):
and where do you compete? And why?
Speaker 3 (42:27):
You know that's a hard one.
Speaker 2 (42:29):
I'm pretty torn on that one. I would, on the
one hand, I would say I would go back to
what I was just telling you in twenty fourteen driving
for Stensland Motorsports at Eldor Speedway. I would go back
to that night, and honestly I would have a different approach. Generally,
(42:53):
I would think people look back and they would want
to do something different. I would I would step out
of the car and instead of race that night. And
so if there was one night I could go back,
that would be it.
Speaker 1 (43:07):
You would stell explain that to me. If you would,
you would step out instead of race out.
Speaker 2 (43:12):
So my dad passed away in twenty fourteen and he
wanted his ashes spread at our favorite racetrack, which was
Eldor Speedway. By that time I had been retired for
two years. I didn't have a car, I didn't have
a ride, so I was going to have a friend
of mine do it. When I was approached by an
old car owner that said, well, why don't you do it?
And so he put a he built a car for
(43:33):
me to do it. We did the ceremony one night
in front of a you know, a few thousand people,
and I honored my dad and at that point I
would have gotten out instead, he looked at me and said,
do you want a race?
Speaker 3 (43:46):
You bet you?
Speaker 2 (43:47):
So I got out there and was third quick after practice.
As I was pulling into the pits, I got t
boned by a flatbed record doing about sixty. It sent
the car flipping, sent me into a light pole. I
got woken up by the back brace when they were
sticking it in the car. It was such a weird accident,
(44:10):
but it was a very clear accident that God put
an exclamation mark. We're done talking about it. I think
if I could go back that night, I would have
honored my dad and then and then left and stepped away.
Speaker 1 (44:21):
And called it good Amen. You know, I had stepped
away from coaching basketball at a school, and I was
praying about it because my son was a freshman in
college playing basketball and I was missing it because I
had this ministry of coaching other people's kids. And I
kept praying, Lord, do you want me to continue this ministry?
(44:42):
Or do you want me to go watch my son play?
And I thought he would gently tap me on the shoulder, Jason,
and he didn't. I got fired the only time I've
ever been fired at anything in my life. I got
fired because I didn't name a superintendent at that school
son a captain. And it was clearly a way, the
way of the Lord saying and Okay, you're gonna you're
gonna understand. I've been telling you all along you need
(45:03):
to go spend time with your wife watching your son play,
but you haven't listened. Now I'm gonna make it very clear.
And I think the Lord did that to you as well. Yep,
one hundred percent. Jason Holt, thank you so much for
your time. I really appreciate it. If there's anybody within
your group that you think would be a good guest
(45:25):
on faith in his own we have the sponsors we need.
Sometimes it's hard to find guests. If there's anybody that
you think would would would be a good ambassador for IndyCar,
that that you would want me to reach out to,
please let me know. Guys. Indiecarministry dot org, Indycarministry dot org,
go to that website, read through the website, take a
look at who they are, who how they serve, and
(45:48):
if you're feeling led, hit the donate button and send
them a little bit of money to continue this ministry
and it will go a long way. Jason, thank you
so much for cople miss your time.
Speaker 3 (45:59):
Yeah, thanks for having me on. That was fun.
Speaker 1 (46:01):
You got it, Jason, Thank you, James, great job. This
is Faith in the Zone on Fox Sports ninet twenty
in your iHeartRadio app.
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