Harvick, Hornaday visit Walter Reed

NASCAR drivers Ron Hornaday Jr., center, and Kevin Harvick, right, visit the Walter Reed Army Medical Center on Tuesday.

Kevin Harvick and Ron Hornaday Jr. spent Tuesday visiting injured soldiers at the Water Reed Army Medical in Washington, D.C.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars is one of the sponsors on Hornaday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team, owned by Kevin Harvick. Harvick and his wife DeLana have teams in the Truck and Nationwide Series.
“This is an opportunity very few people get to experience,” said Kevin Harvick, a driver from Bakersfield. “I am very proud of our affiliation with the VFW and all of the programs they offer to our veterans and their families. I was able to personally say thank you to some of our country’s finest men and women who have given so much for all of us. This visit was an eye-opening experience at how far medical research has come and it was truly an honor to be able to meet and talk with these brave men and women.”
Hornaday and the Harvicks toured the medical center, signed autographs and listened to the stories the soldiers had to tell. A few years back, Hornaday went with a group of other NASCAR drivers to Iraq to visit soldiers.
“I really value our relationship with the VFW, it is through our affiliation with them that we get the opportunity to come to places like this,” said Hornaday, who used to race at Saugus Speedway and lived in Palmdale. “It is incredible to listen to the stories and hear how desperately these patients want to get well only to rejoin their battalion. This visit was a real honor. I got the opportunity to shake hands with true heroes. I am so thankful for each and every person in this hospital, not only the patients but the doctors and nurses who are taking care of them. A visit like this really makes you proud to be an American.”