AVONDALE, AZ - Morgan Shepherd and Faith Motorsports will honor the memory of the late JoAnne Buschmann of Colorado this weekend during the Phoenix 200 Busch Series race
Shepherd met Buschmann at a Winston Cup race in 1997 when he was visiting with fans in the grandstands a day prior to a race at Phoenix International Raceway. As Shepherd began to leave the track the following evening he recalls JoAnne running up to him with a smile.
"She gave me a check for $500 for my charity. The day before I had given her a copy of our brochure when I met her and she wanted to help our charity before we left Phoenix," Shepherd said.
Shepherd and the Buschmann family kept in contact over the years as the family continued to be faithful supporters of Shepherd's charity. In 2000, JoAnne Buschmann died of cancer, but Shepherd said the legacy she left is what has stuck with him over the past seven seasons.
"When JoAnne died she asked that instead of flowers that people send money to our charity," Shepherd said. "Every year since that time, and sometimes more than every year, we still get checks from her husband John as a memorial to JoAnne."
The Faith Motorsports #89 Dodge will carry as special memorial to JoAnne Buschmann on both rear quarter panels of the car during this weekend's event at Phoenix as a memorial to JoAnne and a thank you to her family.
"I just hope that I can be like JoAnne Buschmann when I pass on and have people remember me for something good that I might have done along the way," Shepherd said. "Almost a decade after her death, JoAnne is still helping our charity every year."
|
|
RSS Feed
