Greetings!
Strong 2020 start for Motorsport Immersion Program at Daytona
Veterans can be an inspiration to people all over the world from different walks of life and to people in many different professions. They inspire from heroic acts performed by a single individual or to how they work as a team with little in common to overcome what ever obstacle in in their way.

They seem to thrive working, playing or even healing as a team. Teamwork can be anything from a fire team putting artillery on target, two veteran students working on a college project or a professional motorsports team striving to win an endurance race while providing an outlet and a means for an injured veteran to recover. During the first big race weekend of the year at Daytona International Speedway that is exactly what happened. Members of the Operation Motorsport family worked side by side with race teams that took part in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Endurance Race as well as the 58th running Rolex 24 Hour Endurance Race. The way these races ended have similarities to how some of our veterans feel, sometime landing on their head and other times finishing in first place. We can tell you stories of what we see and how we think the beneficiaries feel, but it truly is best coming right from the veterans themselves. 
“Though nobody can go back and make a new beginning, anyone can start over and make a new ending.” 
~Chico Xavier
The personal stories..............
#60 KohR Motorsports Crew Member
Staff sergeant (Ret) Will Christopher
Going to the Rolex 24 with Operation Motorsport and working with KohR Motorsports in the BMW Endurance race is part of my continuing recovery.




I’m able to feel the adrenaline of the Army, the teamwork the army gave me and the feelings of team that the army is.

Operation Motorsport doesn’t ask me to sit in a circle and share my feelings, we go work harder than we have since before our injuries and then laugh and make new memories to carry us through the bad times that eventually come back up. I’m not fixed from racing, I’m rejuvenated by it.

I’m ready to move forward because of it. My recovery is long, but racing makes the road easier and the transition from the army a softer landing.
“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
#48 Paul Miller Racing Crew Member 1st Sergeant (ret) Scott Paul
“The key is not the will to win… everybody has that.
It is the will to prepare to win that is important.”




OpMo has helped me in countless ways and restored my happiness by putting the will to win back inside of me. When I got injured by receiving numerous TBI’s from conducting Airborne Operations and explosions from being in Afghanistan.

I was really depressed because the Army was all I knew after 21 years of military service, and I was pulled out of Command from being a First Sergeant due to the fact that I couldn’t do my job anymore with my injuries. I was then sent to Warrior Transition Battalion to recover or be medically retired.

OpMo has shown me that I am a winner and can still be a leader even if I do suffer from the effects of my traumatic brain injuries. OpMo has always been there for me by always showing that they care by checking on me regularly and continue to support me along the way both in the Army or being retired now. I would never have gotten a chance to be in IMSA racing if it wasn’t for OpMo. Now I am beyond happy, and can fulfill my love and passion with racing and fast cars.



“Experience is not what happens to you, it is what you do with what happens to you.” – Aldous Huxley
#60 KohR Autosport Crew Member
Staff sergeant (ret) Andrew Ostmann
What the race meant to me.....

Being at the race and part of a team helps me forget the struggles I’m dealing with being out of the Army. For those 4-5 days I’m not just some guy who doesn’t have a job. I’m a guy that can help with a minor task so the rest can focus on their jobs. I’m on a team again. Yea I have aches and pains but it’s all worth it to be involved with the crew. To see that car out on the track running smoothly and knowing I helped with that is something I never in a million years thought I’d be a part of.

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.” 
~Dr. Seuss
#81 TWOth Autosport Race Engineer
Lieutenant (Ret) Theo Bruulsema
Going to the Daytona 24 is always an incredible experience! This year I was fortunate to continue working with TWOth, as well as the Bestline team in a joint Canadian effort. The teamwork and intense competition each weekend provides is addictive, building you up and grabbing your full attention, and even more so with such a prestigious race. The result is a perfect start to 2020!
“Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.” –  C.S. Lewis
#22 Crew Member
Staff sergeant (ret) Chad Failing
Wow, where do I start. This race made me truly feel like one of the guys on the team. I was giving a diverse set of jobs and held accountable to ensure the team would meet our goals. I learned that I worked to earn the respect of the team.

 Operation Motorsports was a blessing in disguise for me. When I look back to my first day as a beneficiary I was lost and looking for something that would remind me I wasn't done in life. Working hand in hand with everyone associated with Operation Motorsports gives me hope knowing that I have others like me I can turn to. Even when we're away from the races, we're there for each other. 

Thank you to our on-site Daytona team....... we can't do this without you;

Event Coordinator and ambassador - Charles Buchanan

US Military Liaison and ambassador - Jason Leach

Communications Director and beneficiary - David Meyer

OpMo Board Member and ambassador - Lynn Friedman

OpMo Board Member and ambassador - Hector Martinez

OpMo Board Member and ambassador - Fabio Napoleoni

Friend of Operation Motorsport - Grier Martin
Thank you Recaro for supporting our 2019 efforts including the 2019 Race of Remembrance at Anglesey Circuit, Angelsey, Wales, UK
Pictured from left; OpMo CEO Diezel Lodder, Recaro North America VP James Koelzer, OpMo Executive Director Tiffany Lodder, OpMo US Military Liaison Jason Leach, Recaro Director of N.A. Sales & Global Marketing Nicole McElroy, TWOth Autosport Principle and Driver Travis Hill, OpMo Board Member Lynn Friedman
A sneak peak at what is coming next.....
And even more cool stuff...........
Thank you to all of our 2020 Daytona Race Teams
About Operation Motorsport - Operation Motorsport is a veteran-operated not-for-profit based in Brighton, Ontario and was founded on the basis of three simple words – Excite, Engage and Empower. Its mission is to engage, through motorsport activities, ill and injured service members and disabled veterans, affected by military service, leading to aiding in their recovery and rehabilitation. Visit: http://operationmotorsport.org/