2018 Racing Against Leukemia

It’s that time of year. Since 1990, the New England Region has designed a weekend of events to show our support for families battling childhood cancers. And while enjoying our favorite motorsports activities, we also raise funds for the UMass Children’s Medical Research Center.

It’s Racing Against Leukemia (RAL) time!

Last year, NER raised $10,017 between Road Racing, Rally, and Solo events. This year, we are once again offering numerous ways our NER members can participate in RAL events while having #funwithcars. Palmer Motorsports Park will host the Road Racing and Rally events, while Solo competitors will head to Devins Airfield. Both road racing and rally events are coinciding at Palmer in a single weekend of competition, raffles, prizes and fun!

Road Racing

This year’s RAL road racing event and annual Pig Roast is scheduled for September 8-9.  REGISTER HERE!

Rally

Never raced a Rally before? This is your chance! The Saturday, September 8 Rally does NOT require any special license or even a SCCA membership to compete. Show up with a driver/navigator and a properly insured vehicle, and we will put you on the course.  REGISTER HERE!

Solo

The NER Points #9 Solo event scheduled for Sunday, September 23 is also this year’s RAL event. Top fundraisers for the day will compete in the “Jeff Gordon Challenge.” REGISTER HERE!

We hope to meet and exceed that over this year’s RAL events! To do that, though, we need YOUR HELP!

Raffle Donations Needed

One of the biggest fundraising portions for the RAL weekend events will be the annual Raffle. WE NEED DONATIONS! Please consider how you can support this amazing outreach program by donating items to be raffled off for charity. Consider asking the business your own and work for if they have goods or services to donate. We are also encouraging members to reach out to local businesses in your area to solicit donations.

Last year, BMW of Shrewsbury graciously donated a BMW bike to the auction (see photo below!) Puck Stopper Photography donated a 20″ x 30″ canvas print, and SMG Motoring gave a free Dyno pull, just to name a few of the great items!

Possible Donation Ideas include:

  • Race car parts and materials: belts and harnesses, cleaning supplies, tools and tool sets, work gloves, tool boxes
  • Restaurant gift cards: fast food restaurants, coffee shops (Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks), chain restaurants (Chili’s, Outback, Longhorn)
  • Grocery store gift cards: Whole Foods, Stop ‘n Shop, ShopRite
  • Kid Toys: Stuffed animals, Hot Wheels, bikes and scooters
  • Clothing Items: Rain gear, jackets, hats and gloves
  • Gift Baskets: wine and liquor, snacks and sweets, beauty or health products
  • Gas cards
  • Amusement park tickets: Six Flags, Lake Compounce, Canobie Lake
  • Movie tickets: Regal Cinemas, AMC
  • Services: spa and massages, oil change

Do you own a vacation rental? Donate a weekend!

Do you have season tickets to a sporting event? Donate a set!

Big or small, whatever you can donate will be used to raise funds to support the fight against childhood cancers. The RAL team is ready to group small donations together into one larger raffle prize, so please do not assume that a small donation will not be useful. Every donation counts!

Submit Donations

To submit donations to the raffle, please contact Bryan Rogers. He will coordinate all the items.

PURCHASE A RAL T-SHIRT

RAL t-shirts will also be for sale during the Palmer weekend events. All proceeds from the sale of the shirts will be included in the donations made to the UMass Medical Center.

In honor of Rally joining the Road Racing event at Palmer, this year’s shirt design is called “Rallye Against Leukemia”, inspired by the iconic Rallye Monte Carlo logo.

COSTS: $15 each (2 for $25)

History of RAL

From Danielle Moehring: I was diagnosed with Childhood Leukemia at the age of 3 in 1989. I was treated at UMass Medical Center in Worcester, Massachusetts and Boston’s Children’s Hospital. During this time team Yankee Sports Car Club along with COM Sports Car Club of America and Indoor Model Racing raised money during my family’s time of need. My family decided that this money would be used for leukemia research and bone marrow donor recruiting. It was in the winter of 1990 that team Yankee and Polar Racing, made up of SCCA New England Region drivers Ed Funk, Ed Warkulewicz and Eric strobe, and AMA motorcycle racer John Crowley, along with my father Manfred Moehring, Shell Tollefsen and Bill Lightner formed Racing Against Leukemia to benefit childhood leukemia research at UMass Medical Center. All the proceeds go to UMass for research with the hope of becoming closer to finding a cure for childhood cancer. Since the 1990s RAL has been a strong event happening every year. With the great charity from many racers and all that have been committed to organizing and helping with the weekend many children have been helped during their fight with this awful disease. I personally send out a great and big thank you to my father and his racing friends, to SCCA and all that have been and continue to be a part of this event.