Like many short tracks, it has also produced plenty of fans and participants who first got bit by the racing bug when attending the NASCAR-sanctioned late model meets. Motor Racing Outreach can boast of a chaplain with a love for racing that began in the Music City.

“I grew up coming to races at this track. It is where I found my love for the sport and spent many, many years,” stated Kyle Froman, chaplain for NASCAR’s Southern Modified Tour. “It is also where I first started with MRO.”

“I was always interested with cars as a child,” recalls Froman. “My Mom always told me I never wanted to hold a rattle, I always wanted to hold a car as a baby. As I progressed in my childhood I took an interest to NASCAR racing. While my brother and his friends were into stick and ball sports, I always wanted my parents to take me to the race track on Saturday nights to watch the races.”

His interest in religion and racing were not intertwined at first. “As I progressed into my early twenties, a passion began to burn within me to share my relationship with Christ with other people. As that passion began to grow, my passion for racing began to fade away. I didn’t see the two as complimentary desires, and I knew that Christ would be first.

“As I was sitting at a Saturday night race at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway I remember God speaking to my heart so clearly, ‘I made you passionate about racing for a reason.’ I knew at that point God was leading me to share his love with men and women involved in motorsports.”

The twenty-eight-year-old continued his story, “At first I decided I wanted to form my own Christian based race team. I purchased a legends car and rallied the support of local sponsors to help me get on track As things progressed I lost the support I was promised financially and was placed in the position that I had to sell my legends car before I ever got to race it.

“I eventually was able to trade the legends car for a racing go-kart and some cash, with the intention of then selling the go-kart,” Kyle added. “Through the process of selling the kart I was contacted by a gentleman from Nigeria who wanted to purchase the kart. The Nigerian sent me a fraudulent check and phony instructions on how to handle the funds. A few days after depositing the check I was contacted by my bank to inform me that the check was fraudulent and I was liable for the for the entire ($8,000) amount.

“I was discouraged. If God led me to pursue ministering in motorsports how could this happen? God miraculously provided the finances to eliminate the entire debt. I knew that forming a race team was the way that I wanted to do it, but God had different plans. As I began to listen to Him, He began to lead me towards this chaplaincy. That is what eventually led me to my first conversation with Lake Speed and my connection with MRO.” The former Cup Series driver, Speed, directed the Fairgrounds Speedway chaplain to get in touch with MRO.

Formed in 1988, the Motor Racing Outreach organization was originally designed to help the then Winston Cup community. The non-profit group has expanded beyond NASCAR’s highest level to include other forms of stock cars, motorcycles, and powerboat racers.

“Motorsports are pressure filled,” the chaplain explained, “and can place stressful demands on drivers, crewmembers, officials, media, husbands, children, wives, and the many other people that make up racing communities. For MRO, and those who partner with us, our opportunity is to support these racing communities so that they may enjoy a more wholesome life together, and in turn, become role models for millions of motorsports fans around the world.”

The Spring Hill, Tennessee resident has been the NASCAR Southern Modified Tour’s chaplain for the past four years. “I began to look at different opportunities to serve with a regional touring series. I became aware of the Modified Tour, and they did not have a chaplain, so I contacted the Tour director at the time. After speaking with him and sharing my ambitions, I was invited to join the Tour as their chaplain.”

“I was always a fan of full bodied stock cars until I saw my first modified race,” Kyle went on to say. “Then I was hooked.”

When asked if he had any favorite track he replied, “The first would be Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville. I grew up coming to races at this track. It is where I found my love for the sport and spent many, many years. It is also where I first began with MRO. My second pick would be Bowman Gray Stadium (Winston Salem, NC). The energy and excitement the Stadium brings are unlike any short track I have ever attended.”

With each Tour event Froman, “prays at each driver’s meeting, post devotionals at every team’s hauler, prays with drivers individually prior to each race, offers counsel, advice, and encouragement, and conducts chapel services whenever possible.”

The two of us met at a most informal setting. His aforementioned chapel service held during a recent Modified Tour event, at a concession stand picnic table in a pit area infield.

Kyle and his wife Michelle are the proud parents of their son Micah who will be celebrating his first birthday this summer. Before they began dating, the Fromans originally communicated over the Internet. “We were introduced to each other via my former Pastor’s sister-in-law.”

Michelle attended church with her and she, “encouraged me to email Michelle as she thought we would make a good match. I began to email Michelle while she was still in school in Pensacola, Florida. We emailed over the course of several months before finally meeting in person.”  Now Kyle’s former email friend is his wife and stay at home mom.

“Up until the birth of Micah last year my wife was extremely involved with what we are doing via MRO. She attended every race with me over the course of the years. She would help in building relationships as well as hanging devotionals with me and lending support in whatever area was needed,” Froman continued.

“She is now unable to travel to the races with me so that she can stay at home with Micah but still is huge support and helps me proofread all my devotionals. I couldn’t do what I do without her.”

The full time church administrator for the Full Life Assembly of God in Franklin,TN also maintains the MRO web site www.go2mro.com.

He concluded with a strong belief in MRO’s goal, “It is the mission of Motor Racing Outreach to introduce the racing community to a personal faith in Christ, to grow in Christlikeness, and to active involvement in the church through relationships that provide care in times of stress, knowledge of God’s word, and assistance in the development of leadership skills.”

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