Gase takes up cause in honor of mother

Between Brian Vickers' Blood Clot Awareness commercials for Xarelto and several drivers who have worked with various Autism Awareness programs because of family members affected by the condition, community outreach runs deep in NASCAR, too.

Twenty-two-year-old NASCAR XFINITY Series driver Joey Gase may not yet be one of the sport's household names, but he and his cause certainly deserve to be.

When the Cedar Rapids, Iowa native was 18, his mother, Mary Jo, succumbed to a brain aneurism and passed away. With his parents having been divorced, Gase was then faced with a decision more difficult than anything someone that age should have to make.

"I'd just turned 18 years old and my mom was single and the doctors asked us if she would want to be an organ/tissue donor," Gase said Friday morning at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

"At the time, we didn't really know what my mom would want. We knew she was a really healthy and caring person. We said yes and after that, I found out she was able to help and improve the lives of 66 people and that was just amazing to us, knowing that she was able to help that many people and that she was able to keep on living on through them."

The driver of the No. 52 Chevrolet mentioned that he wanted to do something to honor his mother after she passed, so he decided to figure out what he could do to promote donations knowing how many people she had helped. He went to all of his local Donate Life centers -- such as LifeLink -- to team up to promote donation options "so hopefully no one is ever in the same situation I was in, but if they are again hopefully they're more prepared and know about donation to be able to make the right decision for their loved one."

The No. 52 will sport a special logo this weekend at Atlanta, along with the photos of donors, recipients and those on the wait list.

Gase has also gotten families who've had organ and/or tissue donation impact their lives to come to the racetrack with him, saying that it's cool because it's not to often he gets to meet someone who knows or has experienced what he has.

With NASCAR as his platform, the driver is set on increasing the general population's awareness of how many people can be helped through organ donation and what it's all about, other than "just a quick yes or no question ... at the DMV.

"NASCAR has helped a ton. They were able to set up an ESPN interview two years ago that was shot during the pre-race show at Iowa Speedway and that got us ... so much attention for donation. My Twitter and Facebook and everything blew up. Even got the attention of Jeff Gordon and he even made comments on it and that was really amazing and special to see.

We even got him on board with it now. NASCAR just helps us so much. All of the people at the races and the races being live on TV helps a ton."

On Thursday at a local hospital, the driver met a little boy in need of a heart whose grandfather actually raced at Talladega Superspeedway in the 1940s, winning the race for a grand prize of $450.

These invaluable experiences that Gase has encountered since becoming involved are clearly important to him, but none more special than when he was able to meet Jordan Shaw at Iowa Speedway last year ahead of the U.S. Cellular 250 XFINITY Series race -- the same Jordan Shaw that is living because of the kidney Gase's mother donated.

"It's so amazing and special when you meet (people that have received my mother's organs)," said Gase, who has also met the recipient of his mother's liver. "You know your mom's inside them and not only that; if it wasn't for my mom, they most likely wouldn't be here and alive today. Seeing how thankful they are and how good of people they are, it just makes it ... I won't say it makes it better, it makes it a little bit easier knowing that your mom was able to help them.

"She's still living on through them."

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