The No. 78 Chevrolet Regan Smith is be driving in Sunday's Brickyard 400 will be a somber tribute to the victims of the horrific and senseless tragedy that took place in Aurora, CO, on July 20.
Denver-based Furniture Row Racing has pulled its company's decals off the black Impala, instead carrying the town's name on the rear fenders and the names of the 12 individuals killed around the rear wheel wells. The rear TV panel carries the slogan "For Those Lost, Those Injured And Countless Acts of Bravery 7/20/12."
Furniture Row Racing's headquarters is seven miles from the theater where the cowardly act took place, and one of the victims was a friend of a Furniture Row employee.
This is far from the first time a NASCAR team has shown solidarity with victims of a natural or man-made disaster. At last year's Coca-Cola 600, Joplin, MO's Jamie McMurray's No. 1 Chevrolet featured his tornado-ravaged hometown's name on the rear fenders. In the first race after the September 11 attacks, every race car in the field at Dover carried some kind of patriotic tribute.