At-Track Fundraising Auctions Scheduled for Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Weekend,To Benefit Austi
- Foundation’s Race-Week Activities Begin With Visit to Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (March 12, 2018) – One of the world’s iconic auto races, the 66th annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts, will enable the Austin Hatcher Foundation for Pediatric Cancer to showcase its efforts this weekend via auctions designed to raise both funds and awareness.
The 12-hour endurance sports car classic, set for Saturday, is the second event on the International Motor Sports Association’s (IMSA) WeatherTech Sports Car Championship schedule, following the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona. The Austin Hatcher Foundation is an official “Proud Charity” of Daytona Beach, Florida-based IMSA, North America’s premier sports car sanctioning body.
Prior to the race weekend, the Austin Hatcher Foundation will bring its innovative Diversionary Therapy program to the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando on Tuesday. Foundation staff members will be joined by star IMSA drivers Jordan Taylor of Wayne Taylor Racing and Tyler Cooke of BimmerWorld Racing.
Each year, the foundation assembles a robust Diversionary Therapy “road show” that visits children’s medical facilities throughout the United States, often in markets where IMSA races are held. IMSA drivers are involved in many of those visits, with the foundation partnering with hospitals to provide specialized activities for children and families – supplying a much-needed respite from the everyday realities of a fight against pediatric cancer. One of those activities is the building and racing of miniature Pinewood Derby cars, which results in meaningful, memorable interactions between professional race car drivers and young patients.
Jordan Taylor and his brother Ricky Taylor are longtime supporters of the Austin Hatcher Foundation and earlier this year received the organization’s 2017 Humanitarian Award, presented for outstanding volunteer efforts. In addition, the Taylors are the reigning co-champions of the IMSA WeatherTech Championship series.
On Friday and Saturday, the Austin Hatcher Foundation will benefit from auctions held on the grounds of famed Sebring International Raceway.
On Friday, from 11:30 a.m.-12 p.m., Wayne Taylor Racing will host an auction of racing-related items at the team transporter, in the raceway paddock area. Then, at 2:40 p.m. at the Corvette Corral, a painting by acclaimed artist Roger Warrick will be auctioned. Warrick’s works have been commissioned by Autoweek, Watkins Glen International, Ford Racing, Bristol Motor Speedway, Team Sahlen's, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Paul Oxman Publishing, Drive! Magazine, Newman-Haas Racing, and many private collectors. Warrick is also well-known for his artwork used for the cover of Sebring’s race program. Warrick will begin work on the “live” painting at 11 a.m.
On Saturday at 1p.m. we will be in the Cadillac Hospitality for a Silent Auction of Cadillac memorabilia including parts from Action Express, and painting by Bill Patterson and 3.30p.m. at Porscheplatz with a silent auction of memorabilia.
“Sebring is always a big week for IMSA, which always makes it a big week for the Austin Hatcher Foundation,” said foundation President Amy Jo Osborn. The support we receive comes from many directions and is vital to us spreading the word about our mission to erase the effects of pediatric cancer.”
