NASCAR fans have seen an Army car, a Navy car, an Air Force car, even a Marines, Coast Guard and National Guard cars. But when David Reutimann finished fifth earlier this year in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the No. 00 was sporting a military logo who most in America were unfamiliar.

The Armed Forces Foundation was the primary sponsor on the Michael Waltrip Racing car, and Reutimann was ecstatic he could bring a little attention to this relatively new charity.

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"I think the AFF has been under the radar, so to speak, unfortunately, for what they do, and how they do it and how well they do it," Reutimann said. "When we got involved with Aaron's [his primary sponsor] and we started going to VA hospitals and seeing Aaron's involvement and finding out what the AFF really does, I was really impressed."

The AFF is a non-profit foundation created in 2001 by former Reps. Duncan Hunter and Jim Saxton to assist wounded soldiers and their families financially when the soldiers return home from war and begin the long process of rehabilitation.

"A lot of people don't realize when these guys get wounded, their families stop their jobs," said Patricia Driscoll, AFF president and executive director. "Everybody is a two-income family these days and the economy is really tough. So they leave their jobs, they take a leave of absence and they come to the hospital to be by their loved one's bedside, as they should be.

"But they have no income coming in so they start racking up some serious debt, especially our most critically wounded at Walter Reed [Army Medical Center] and Bethesda [National Naval Medical Center]. So their families have to take a long leave of absence.

"So what we do is pay for their bills at home, their mortgage, their utilities; we try to keep them afloat financially because they've already suffered a big enough hardship by having someone they love so critically wounded. They shouldn't have to lose their house because they want to be by their loved one's bedside."

Driscoll, who has been deployed as a citizen to Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as Africa, Mexico and South America, and refers to every solider as her "brother and sister," remembered fondly one of the first families the AFF was able to assist.

"One of the first injuries of the [Iraq] war was a young Marine and we actually found his mom asleep in the parking lot in her car," Driscoll said. "She lost her home; she lost her job because she wasn't able to go back to work. Her son had lost both legs, one of his arms and was barely alive. She was eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich a day, which some of the [hospital] staff had noticed. She was sleeping in her car because she couldn't afford a hotel room.

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I think a lot of people are like me, they didn't realize what the AFF did or what it was about. Until I got involved, I didn't realize. If you had a sheet of paper and wrote down everything they do, there's just hundreds and hundreds of things they do. I like an organization that isn't tied into doing just one thing -- they just do it all and that's the AFF.

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-- DAVID REUTIMANN

"So when we found her like that she finally broke down and told us the only reason her car is not repossessed was they had no idea where she was and that was her home at the moment. So we stepped in and we realized that all of these families were in very big financial trouble. So we came in to pay all the bills for all the hotel rooms; we started giving financial relief to these families so they wouldn't lose their homes, so they could actually go home."

Since 2001, the AFF has grown its mission in its nine-year existence. While financial assistance remains the top priority, the AFF also offers career guidance, housing assistance and recreational therapy.

And that's where NASCAR comes into the equation.

"We started our partnership with NASCAR last year and have been doing awesome things -- bringing the troops from the hospital, getting them out to the race track," Driscoll said. "These guys are huge fans, never had the opportunity to go [to a race], never had the money to go and it's a great thing to get out of the hospital and come out and be greeted by some of the most patriotic fans of any sport that there is in America."

While the wounded soldiers may enjoy their time at the track, Cup drivers appreciate getting to know these men and women who have put their lives on the line for this country.

"We have probably six, seven races a year and we have guys come over and kind of hang out with us and it's a lot of fun to see those guys," Jeff Burton said. "They bust their ass. A lot of them come here, they're rehabbing and they've been injured pretty serious. So it's cool to see them out and doing something and hopefully it's something they enjoy."

Reutimann hopes his allegiance with the AFF will help open eyes to a serious problem facing our veterans. His goal is to let America's soldiers know the country appreciates their efforts and, as a country, with help from the AFF, they will be taken care of when they return home.

"I think a lot of people are like me, they didn't realize what the AFF did or what it was about. Until I got involved, I didn't realize," Reutimann said. "If you had a sheet of paper and wrote down everything they do, there's just hundreds and hundreds of things they do. I like an organization that isn't tied into doing just one thing -- they just do it all and that's the AFF.

"So I think the opportunity is here to spread the word and just kind of say, 'Thank you' to those people that have fought -- whatever war they fought in or if they're still fighting now -- and let them know that there is an organization over here that will do their best to take care of them if they come back and things don't go the way they need to over there."