He stopped for a moment, dropped to one knee and prepared to pose for a pre-race photograph with Nascar Winston Cup Champion Matt Kenseth. After doing so, Kenseth told him "since you're down on a knee you might as well say a prayer for me."... And so he did.

For 12 years now Father Jay Atwood has offered many such prayers for drivers or anyone else in need of a blessing, as track chaplain at Texas Motor Speedway.

As good fortune would have it the timing couldn't have been better for Kenseth, shortly after that little impromptu prayer and the start of his race he was involved in a track accident. His car began to flip and roll out of control, somehow miraculously finally coming to rest on all four wheels. Father Atwood said that Kenseth made it a point to find him after the crash and tell him that he could pray for him anytime he wanted.

Father Atwood has attended every race since the opening of TMS in April of 1997. So what's the big deal about that? Although many of the featured races have been early Sunday afternoon starts he also has never missed one obligation at his church in Aledo, TX. That in itself is saying a lot due to the fact that the last Sunday mass at St. Francis of Assisi doesn't start until 10:30am. You do the math, let's say service runs about 1 hour and the track is approximately 38 miles away, not to mention race day traffic. I would say he's probably earned himself two gold stars for perfect attendance.

However, he says making it to the speedway hasn't always been the leisure Sunday drive after mass. He recalls several years ago he was scheduled to give the invocation at an event in Aledo. The event was scheduled to begin at 11am, soon the clock was indicating 11:45am, invocation for the pre-race was only 45 minutes away and Father Atwood knew he had 38 miles and traffic ahead of him. Not a problem... waiting outside for him was a police escort. They departed Aledo at 11:45am and were parked at the speedway by 12:15pm., 15 minutes to spare. After arriving at the speedway the escorting officer was so impressed with Father Atwood's driving skills that he took a moment to tell him so. He says feeling a bit guilty about a little well kept secret he told the officer that prior to joining the priesthood he spent 9 yrs. for the state of Florida as a Highway Patrolman.

Oh, the story gets even better...at this point both you and me certainly now understand where he acquired his driving skills. Hold on, not so fast, there is yet one other little secret that might explain his skill behind the wheel. During part of his tenure as a highway patrolman as well as some years before that job, while in school there was that other part time job that he held in order to pay for his gas and other miscellaneous items. Former Florida State Highway Patrolman now ordained Father Jay Atwood once drove the infamous coach for Cinderella at Walt Disney World.

And now you know the rest of the story.

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