Today, Comcast announced NASCAR driver Ryan Vargas as the 2023 Comcast Community Champion of the Year, becoming the ninth champion to receive the prestigious annual award. Ryan will be awarded $60,000 towards FACES: The National Craniofacial Association, bringing the total contributions made by Comcast to the Community Champion program to over one million dollars.
Born with craniosynostosis, a rare birth defect in which the bones in a baby’s skull join together too early, causing problems with normal growth. Vargas has dedicated himself to raising awareness for children with craniofacial differences with the goal of encouraging these children to take on life and its challenges. Vargas’s condition was caught early and repaired with one surgery; however, many children with craniofacial differences will require several surgeries throughout their lives. To support those who are born with this birth defect, Vargas became involved in FACES: The National Craniofacial Association. FACES is a 501(c)(3) organization that provides resources for those with craniofacial anomalies such as financial assistance for medical travel, as well as a support network for teens and children through FACES camp. “Ryan’s unwavering dedication to supporting those around him shines through in how he carries himself both at and beyond the track,” said Matt Lederer, Comcast’s Vice President, Brand Partnerships and Amplification. “His impactful work, particularly in support of those suffering from Craniosynostosis, exemplifies the power that selfless dedication has in making a positive difference in the lives of others. We are honored to name him as the 2023 Comcast Community Champion of the Year.” Vargas was chosen by a panel comprised of Comcast and NASCAR executives, including Jessica Ferreira, the 2022 Comcast Community Champion, who received the award for her dedication to support foster children during the COVID pandemic and her work with Foster Village Charlotte (FVC), an organization that allows foster parents to connect with and support each other. Since the inception of the program, Comcast has donated to 24 different nonprofit organizations, furthering the impact of the philanthropic efforts of all finalists and champions. This year, Comcast reached the milestone of donating over one million dollars to deserving organizations associated with individuals within the NASCAR family. Jessica Friesen, Wife of Truck Series driver Stewart Friesen, and Max Siegel, Team Owner of Rev Racing, were selected as finalists and will both be awarded $30,000 towards their respective selected charities – the Crossroads Center For Children and Max Siegel Inc. Youth Foundation. Comcast has a long track record of community service, aiding in the advancement of local organizations, developing programs and partnerships, mobilizing resources to connect people and inspiring positive and substantive change. To learn more about these efforts, visit the Comcast Community Impact site. -Comcast 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗦𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗥𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝘀 𝗝𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗚𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗶𝗮 𝘁𝗼 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗽
𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝑹𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆: ThorSport Racing announces Jake Garcia to its 2024 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series driver lineup, with Quanta Services onboard his Ford F-150. Garcia is coming off his rookie season in the Truck Series where he tallied three top-five, and nine top-10 finishes in 22 races. “𝘛𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘚𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘙𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘶𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦,” 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘎𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘢. “𝘐’𝘮 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 2024 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥.” The Georgia native’s racing career started in quarter midgets at the age of five where he moved up the ranks competing in Allison Legacy, USAC Eastern Midget Series, Pro Late Model and Super Late Model Series. Garcia’s accomplishments include the 2021 Southern Super Series Champion becoming the youngest driver to do so. Five Flags Speedway Super Late Model track champion in 2021, the 2020 Southern Super Series Rookie of the Year, and the 2019 Five Flags Super Pro Late Model track champion. Quanta Services has built the largest skilled-labor force in North America by uniting over 200 operating companies to tackle the most complex infrastructure challenges in the world. The company operates in a regional structure to marshal its global resources seamlessly and efficiently in the local interest of its customers. -𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒓𝑺𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝑹𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 Halmar Friesen Racing has made three crucial additions as its No. 52 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro team and driver Stewart Friesen prepare for the 2024 season.
Jimmy Villeneuve, a veteran of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, was selected as the team’s Crew Chief. Joining him is Dustin Dunn as Race Engineer and Tim Packman was hired in September as HFR’s Commercial and Communications Director. Villeneuve, from Auburn, NH, brings 20 years of experience to HFR coming from Kyle Busch Motorsports as the crew chief for its No. 4 Toyota team. Prior to his tenure at KBM, “Jimmy V” worked at Wood Brothers Racing and Kevin Harvick, Inc. “𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘍𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯,” 𝘝𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥. “𝘏𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘴, 𝘋𝘪𝘳𝘵 𝘔𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯. 𝘔𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘏𝘍𝘙 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱-𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮.” Dunn has a Mechanical Engineering degree from UNC Charlotte and comes from KBM, as well. Before that, he was part of McAnally-Hilgermann Racing as a race engineer. The native of Jupiter, FL has been in motorsports more than two decades starting with go-karts at age 5 and then Super Late Models in Florida for 18 years. Packman, a native of Akron, NY, is a 30-year motorsports veteran who, coincidentally, got his start from Friesen’s uncle, Alex Friesen, at Lancaster (NY) Motorplex and Ransomville Speedway as an announcer and Public Relations for the tracks. From there, he worked his way to the NASCAR ranks as part of NASCAR.com, Dale Earnhardt, Inc., MRN Radio and Richard Childress Racing. He was also a track promoter at Lancaster for three years. “To say I’m already looking forward to the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season is an understatement,” Stewart Friesen said. “Bringing on these three industry veterans will help us achieve the goals we have been striving for the past few years. “𝘞𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘏𝘍𝘙. 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘑𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘺 𝘝 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺-𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦.” These moves are a continued effort by HFR and Halmar International, LLC owner Chris Larsen to keep improving the team. “𝘐’𝘮 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘏𝘍𝘙 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘯 2023 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘑𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘺, 𝘋𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘛𝘪𝘮 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘋𝘢𝘺𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘢,” Larsen said. -𝙃𝙖𝙡𝙢𝙖𝙧 𝙁𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙣 𝙍𝙖𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙜 |