1on1: Billy Mauldin Jr. (cont'd)

Q: Many people think of MRO as just the Sunday morning chapel, but there's a lot more to the ministry than that, correct?

Mauldin: What most people know about is the chapel service we do right after the driver's meeting. But really, I started this morning at 6:30 a.m., in the media compound, doing a chapel for those folks who have to start much earlier. Another one of our employees was doing a chapel service for the vendors out on vendor row. At 8:30 a.m., I came back here and did one for the coach drivers, because they can't normally get to the other chapels. In addition to that, we'll have the children's program that will be going on throughout the day.

And then we'll just be in the garage area, hanging out, so that if somebody just wants to talk -- particularly a crew guy -- it's hard sometimes to break away from your work, so that if we're present there in the garage area, they can just grab us and say, "If nothing else, pray for me." Or they may want to talk a little bit more about something that's going on in their lives. So it's just being present, that's really the key to it.

Q: In almost a decade of doing this, what's the most unusual thing about the job?

Mauldin: Well, we're celebrating our 20th anniversary this year, actually. Probably one of the most difficult things is when we lose somebody in the community. And I'm not talking just about someone on the track. This has been a very difficult year for officials, especially. Our hearts really go out to that group of folks this year. It seems like it's been an ongoing issue for them. Those are the things that are difficult for all of us. But those are the times that we hope and we pray that our presence is most helpful.

On a personal note, one of the things that sticks out in my mind was the first time I ever went to Talladega with MRO. I was invited to do the invocation to start the race, and I had never done that before. I was standing there at the start/finish line -- and everything had pulled away except for me and the national anthem singer. This was about 15 years ago. And the announcer says, "Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the national anthem and invocation." And I was standing there, and saw these 100,000-plus people all at once, as far as the eyes could see. And I thought to myself, "Oh, my gosh!" I can't even tell you today what I prayed. I was so in awe. And it's just the way this sport is.

Anybody who's never had a chance to see it and be a part of it doesn't know what they're missing. Just come to the race, come to the track one time and get a feel for what this place is like on race day. It's electric. And for us, we have the added bonus of being able to know the people a little bit more personally, behind the scenes. And this is a great bunch of folks.