Johnson pays visit to Army base

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson did his part to support the U.S. troops Thursday by stuffing care packages during a visit to an Army base.

	Jimmie Johnson

Johnson spent four hours on the base in Fort Meade, Md., assisting the United Service Organization in making 10,000 care packages for troops fighting the war with Iraq.

"It's so eye-opening when you come here and see it in person," Johnson said in a telephone interview. "Everything to do with the USO is voluntary. We went to this massive building with hundreds and hundreds of people and they were all volunteers, all of them just there to help support the troops."

Johnson visited the base with sponsor Lowe's, which is helping to fund "Operation USA Care Package" through its 2003 Power of Pride campaign.

The care packages are one of three ways the White House recommended Wednesday as ways to support troops. Included in the packages are sunscreen, disposable cameras, prepaid calling cards, and toiletries.

As a personal touch, Johnson added autographed cards, CDs, magazines and other racing materials. He also visited troops, participated in a question and answer session and signed autographs.

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"You would be amazed at how much everyone knew about racing," Johnson said. "That's all they wanted to talk to me about, at least 90 percent of the questions were about racing and it was unbelievable how much everyone knew."

NASCAR shares a special relationship with the Armed Forces, and chairman Bill France Jr. has called NASCAR fans "the kind of people who go to war and win wars for America."

Jerry Nadeau's Pontiac carries the colors of the U.S. Army, and Nadeau visited with troops in Afghanistan in the offseason.

Todd Bodine's Ford is sponsored by the National Guard and is painted red, white and blue. Ricky Rudd's Ford also carries an associate sponsorship with the Air Force.

In the Truck Series, driver Jon Wood is sponsored by the Navy.

Johnson and his teammates at Hendrick Motorsports placed decals of a yellow ribbon wrapped around the American flag on their race cars.

Last week, NASCAR passed out American flags to crew chiefs before the race in Bristol, Tenn., so that crew members could hold while standing on the starting grid during the singing of the National Anthem. NASCAR plans to do that for the next few weeks.