Rex White, Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons, Bobby Allison and Terry Labonte were among the award winners at the convention. Credit: Courtesy Photo

ONMC kicks off first national convention

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- "Power is good."

With those words, chairman and CEO Patrick Brady kicked off the inaugural National Convention of the Official NASCAR Members Club on Thursday night at the Charlotte Convention Center.

Speaking to several hundred members representing 34 states, assembled NASCAR champions and industry heavyweights, Brady outlined his vision for the future for NASCAR's only licensed fan organization.

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"It's 2011, at the sixth annual National Convention, and 20,000 members are crowded into Bobcats Arena," he said. "There are 75 million NASCAR fans, 35 million of which we can instantly message at a moment's notice, 10 million of which collect and redeem NASCAR RacePoints, the official currency of NASCAR, and most importantly three million Official Members of NASCAR.

"Three million active, card-carrying members of the Official NASCAR Members Club, the largest and most powerful membership organization in America."

With those words as the theme of the evening, the Official NASCAR Members Club moved onward with award presentations to a variety of drivers, tracks, charitable organizations, sponsors and members.

NASCAR vice president of corporate communications Jim Hunter delivered the keynote address.

"You folks [ONMC members] make our sport possible," Hunter said. "If it were not for you fans, none of us would be here. Everywhere we go and everything we do, there are elements of you. You're vocal and we like that. I didn't even get in the door good tonight and someone said, 'Let me tell you what I would have done with that Jimmie Johnson ...'

"Never stop doing that," Hunter continued. "You keep us on our toes. The Official NASCAR Members Club is the only club we sanction, and it's the official club of NASCAR."

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Following Hunter's remarks and Brady's address, it was time for the awards presentation

Drivers receiving awards included NASCAR legends Rex White (1960 series champion), Ned Jarrett (1961 and '65 champion), Benny Parsons (1973 champion), Bobby Allison (1983 champion), Terry Labonte (1984 and '96 champion), team owner Richard Childress (six titles with Dale Earnhardt) and Bobby Labonte (2000 champion).

Childress, one of the ONMC's champion car owners, received an award for Leadership, and Labonte accepted a Teamwork Award on behalf of Petty Enterprises.

After a presentation by Steven Avola on the NASCAR RacePoints program, NASCAR driver and media personality Kenny Wallace took over for the remainder of the evening.

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Among the honorees were California Speedway (Leadership), Sprint/Nextel (Teamwork), Kyle Petty (Charity) and Daytona International Speedway (Innovation). Bill Scott, accepting on behalf of Petty, presented the Charity Award to member Becky Amos, who along with several hundred others has worked tirelessly to support the Victory Junction Gang Camp run by Petty and his wife, Patti.

Other awards went to Internet design company Animink and its president, Markus Allison; race promoter and linchpin of the club's local track program, Joe Mattioli III, the Charlotte Hall of Fame team, Speedway Children's Charities and The NASCAR Foundation.

Sandy Marshall of The NASCAR Foundation revealed that members had sold more than $30,000 worth of NASCAR Day pins at various racetracks in the first 11 races of the season, and that 176 of the 1,200 local chapters had sold an additional $35,000 in support of the Foundation's charter charities.

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Members themselves were awarded for contributions to the club's success in its first 15 months. Local chapter presidents Byron Pepitone (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) and Mona Hedrick (Nashville, Tenn.) were honored for Enrichment; Ron Kromer (Bayville, N.J.) and Dale Klonin (Columbia, Md.) accepted an award for Teamwork; Steve Benoit (La Habra Heights, Calif.) and Michael Hayes (Amity, Ark.) were awarded for Innovation; Paul Mullins (West Virginia) was honored for Charity after raising more than $135,000 for hurricane relief and the twin mining disasters in his state; and Steven Whitlock (Pittsburgh) and Libby Templeton (Trophy Club, Texas) won the Leadership award for their pioneering development of local chapter organizations.

Day 2 of the convention took place Friday morning at the Joe Gibbs Racing complex in Huntersville, N.C. with a series of workshops presented to members by the club and industry experts.

The Official NASCAR Members Club is the only NASCAR-licensed fan organization in the sport. For more information, please click the Members Club tab on the main page of NASCAR.COM or call (877) MY-NASCAR.