2012 Grand Prix of Baltimore: Win for National Guardsmen and women

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”1918″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” css_animation=”fadeIn” css=”.vc_custom_1500574348320{margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_column_text css_animation=”fadeIn” css=”.vc_custom_1500574250765{margin-top: 0px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Story and photos by Spc. Margaret Taylor[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css_animation=”fadeIn” css=”.vc_custom_1500574552116{margin-top: 0px !important;margin-right: 0px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;margin-left: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;border-right-width: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;border-left-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;}”]Like a swarm of angry hornets, the buzz started in the distance, droning from somewhere just out of sight. A green flag fluttered along the empty raceway under a road-spanning Sunoco banner. Crowds pressed close to doubled chain-link fences, necks craning for a first glimpse, as music thumped and announcers hollered from the Fan Village next to Oriole Park. A few raindrops speckled the asphalt from brooding clouds overhead as the angry buzz grew louder and louder still.

Then, with a sudden deafening ferocity, the first wedge-shaped racecar whipped around the far corner, screaming toward, by and past the spectators – in and out of sight in mere seconds – followed closely by two dozen others in thunderous competition.

Twenty-five teams met on the streets of Baltimore Sept. 2, for the IZOD IndyCar Race, the final event of the 2012 Grand Prix of Baltimore.

The Grand Prix opened Aug. 31, and fans were able to watch their favorite teams in the IZOD IndyCar, American Le Mans, USF2000, Star Mazda and Firestone Indy Lights series test the track, with competitions Saturday and Sunday.

Many of the cars sported the decals and colors of well-known corporate racing sponsors like Verizon, Dr. Pepper, Target, and DHL. One car, with its digital camouflage paint and neon orange trim, stood out from the rest: No. 4, the National Guard IndyCar.

Sgt. Stanley Fortiz, 291st Army Liaison Team assistant operations noncommissioned officer, receives a hometown hero award from John Barnes, the CEO of Panther Racing during the 2012 Grand Prix of Baltimore, Sept. 2.

Partnered with Panther Racing since 2008, the National Guard is the only branch of the U.S. Armed Forces currently represented on the domestic Grand Prix circuit. This partnership is one of several National Guard Bureau campaigns to make the American public more aware of the Guard.

Other venues have included American Motorcyclist Association motorcycle racing, NASCAR, and the World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., which allow Guard representatives to interact in communities all across the country, said Amanda Perez, a project manager with Docupak, one of the National Guard Bureau’s marketing associates.

The No. 4 car racing around the track Sunday afternoon, with its proud Guard logo on display, was not the only tribute to service members during the Grand Prix weekend.

Aug. 30, fans had the opportunity to meet the National Guard driver, J. R. Hildebrand, at a special signing session in Bel Air, Md., for service and community members. Sgt. Stanley Fortiz, 291st Army Liaison Team assistant operations noncommissioned officer, attended the event and was publicly recognized Sunday as a hometown hero.

Throughout the weekend, fans met with their favorite teams and saw various cars up close. One of the highlights of the Grand Prix was Sunday morning, when about 40 current and former service members and sponsor affiliates rode in a two-seater IndyCar.

The lucky few – fire-suited, helmeted and jittery – took turns riding in four cars provided by IZOD, Hewlett-Packard, and the National Guard. Each car went a full lap around the twisty 2.4-mile track at speeds topping 120 miles per hour.

“Don’t need coffee in the morning after that,” said a breathless Veronica Hall, whose husband works for Emergent Biosolutions, one of Panther Racing’s sponsors for the 2012 Grand Prix.

“It was great,” agreed Coast Guard Capt. Kevin Kiefer, Baltimore sector commander, who also took a spin in one of the IndyCars.

At a luncheon later that day, Panther Racing welcomed its many friends and partners, extending a particular greeting to the service members at the gathering, several of whom were in uniform.

“It’s an honor and privilege to have you here today,” said John Barnes, CEO of Panther, who spoke shortly after driver J. R. Hildebrand.

Veronica Hall and Evert-Jan Moller of Emergent Biosolutions, Mike Wernicke of the U.S. Coast Guard and Coast Guard Capt. Kevin Kiefer beam after finishing their IndyCar ride-alongs at the 2012 Grand Prix of Baltimore, Sept. 2.

Other speakers at the gathering included Col. Rodney Lewis, Senior Fellow of Joining Forces, and Kevin Schmiegel, executive director of the nationwide initiative, Hiring Our Heroes. Both Barnes and Schmiegel emphasized the importance of uniting the National Guard’s many unemployed Citizen Soldiers and Airmen with the civilian workforce, and expounded Hiring Our Heroes aims for getting 500,000 veterans hired by 2014.

“This is not a charity,” Schmiegel said. “This is an opportunity for America.”

The gathering reached a high point when Barnes presented Sgt. Fortiz with a Hometown Hero plaque, recognizing the Soldier’s two combat tours in Iraq and his ongoing distinguished service in the Maryland Army National Guard.

Shortly before the IndyCar race began, Fortiz was acknowledged again in a public ceremony broadcast on national television. Also recognized was Col. Gregory Gadson, Fort Belvoir, Va. garrison commander, The distinguished wounded warrior, who has served the U.S. in every major conflict in the last 20 years, greeted each driver before he or she took to the track.

Then the IndyCar Series race began.

Though No. 4 climbed through the ranks to the third spot by the middle of the 75-lap, 180-mile race, car damage and a few other misfortunes ultimately kept the team off the podium. Nevertheless, the 2012 Grand Prix of Baltimore was a win for National Guard Soldiers and Airmen, as well as anyone who has ever served.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]