In nearly 10 years in the Christian ministry, Dale Beaver has learned that spiritual growth, as much as physical growth, is an ongoing proposition.

And because of that Beaver, who was familiar to many in the NASCAR community -- both insiders and fans alike, through the seven years he spent as a chaplain serving the Cup Series; was compelled to tie those experiences and the potential for spiritual growth together in a book.

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I think that it's human nature to get to a place like [NASCAR] and to think that all my dreams have come true and it's going to be gravy from here on out -- and it's not. There's still more to be done and that's what you help them do.

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DALE BEAVER

The 109-page work, titled Before the Thunder Rolls: Devotions for NASCAR Fans, includes forewords from two-time defending Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson and fellow competitor Ryan Newman and weaves spiritual lessons with racing lingo.

That's not surprising considering Beaver came to Motor Racing Outreach in 1999 after he graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary and moved to Kentucky, where he was pasturing "a little rural church" when a mutual friend from Interstate Batteries in Dallas connected him with MRO.

Beaver, who visited the series at Indianapolis Motor Speedway earlier in the summer, is now an associate pastor at Christian Fellowship Church in Evansville, Ind. He spent seven years with the group that criss-crosses the country for more than two-thirds of the year and remains what he calls "an ambassador for Motor Racing Outreach, because I still believe very much in the ministry that they're trying to do out here."

MRO, in addition to conducting chapel services at all Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Craftsman Truck Series events, also conducts other programs, including day care for the children of NASCAR competitors and other outreach programs for family members.

"They walk among the people, they love the kids of these people who are on the road all the time and they're involved with the wives that have to stay home," Beaver said. "They're helping marriages stay strong and helping guys to fulfill their potential, not just in their careers but also as a father and a husband and as a guy who should know that God loves him and wants to walk with him."

Beaver's style led him to willingly accept the call to travel with NASCAR. He came with preconceptions, and they were part of the basis for his book.

"The assumption that I had, was that they just showed up in trucks, everybody got out their stuff and they just put on a race," Beaver said. "I had no idea of the preparation, the level of commitment and of sacrifice -- I had no idea of the work that went on to make this thing happen; from the media people who are here, to the corporate people to the actual race people who get out there and do it.

"I had no idea, and that was a huge surprise. But probably the most pleasant surprise that I had and the most encouraging thing about this environment was that it was the same neighborhood, in just a different town every week.

"It was the same people that I rubbed elbows with, and it had a developing story line that was part of the relationships, part of their lives that was being forged because they were together every weekend. And I saw this as a tremendous potential to see a group of wonderful, wonderful people -- with my role being to walk among them and to remind them that life isn't all about racing, that certainly God is at work in our midst here and there are lessons to be learned." (Continued)