As NASCAR fans prepare for the 2026 Daytona 500, attendees at this year’s running of “The Great American Race” may notice a few more “grey shirts” at the track this year. The famed uniform belongs to Team Rubicon volunteers, who will be on hand to help recruit racegoers to serve their communities as members of the international disaster response team.

In partnership with NASCAR IMPACT partner United Rentals, the veteran-led humanitarian organization will have a dedicated space at Daytona International Speedway to help educate racegoers on the organization and its mission to serve global communities before, during, and after disasters and crises.

In advance of the Daytona 500, Team Rubicon CEO Jim Brooks sat down to preview what racegoers can expect.

For fans who are coming to the race that may not be familiar with Team Rubicon, you’ve got a unique origin story. How did Team Rubicon get started and how has it grown in scope and scale?

So in January of 2010, a 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti and killed hundreds of thousands of people. Our founder, Jake Wood, was a recently separated Marine Corps veteran. He was waiting for business school at the time, and Haiti kicked off and he said, ‘I’ve got to go do something.’ He found a total of eight volunteers along his way to fly into Haiti via D.C., using the Dominican Republic as their access point. He led this team across the Dominican Republic, across the border into Haiti, and over the next period of months, saw literally thousands of patients. It was this veteran ethos of moving in a small, scrappy team that could really have a big impact and provide a lot of support to the local community.

That was our first operation. We still call the anniversary of it “Go Day,” where we actually launch all of our next year’s operations. It also gave Team Rubicon its name, because as they were crossing into Haiti, it was this idea that we’re crossing the Rubicon, like Julius Caesar did in Italy itself. So, it’s a really cool founding story of one person saying ‘let’s just get out there and do good work.’

Over the last 16 years, Team Rubicon has now grown to over 200,000 volunteers across every zip code in the United States, but still doing that same mission with that same belief that we are here in service together to support others affected by disasters.

Today, as we look at the increase in multibillion dollar disasters happening every 18 days, we look at ‘low attention disasters’ that never get any media attention. Our “Greyshirts,” our volunteer base, together with our donors, allow us to get out there and meet the needs of communities that are both seen and unseen – across the country and across the world.

In your view, what drives Team Rubicon’s success?

I put it down to our veteran ethos. It’s why people join us when they’re volunteering time. There are a lot of organizations they can volunteer with. But we’re different in how we show up, how we work, and the experience they have when they’re on deployment. That veteran ethos, anchored in that service mindset, and our values are solid.

The way in which we’re able to act gives us license to operate in these communities by establishing trust and rapport within the communities and with each other. There are Greyshirts from all walks of life. It’s a place to join up and to give back. And the clarity of purpose that we bring is super clear.

We do something that is hard to argue with. We respond to disasters and crises before, during, and after their occurrence to make sure that communities can get back on their feet. Today we have Greyshirts in all 50 states and U.S. territories around the world. So everyone can join together to have maximum impact in real time.

How would you describe the role of a Greyshirt, and what does that commitment entail?

So, I’ll give you the origin of the grey shirt. On our second deployment, which was down to Chile after another earthquake, the team deploying said ‘we all need a common uniform.’ They went into a store, and the only T-shirts that existed in a sufficient quantity was actually a grey shirt. So they bought the grey shirt, and it’s what unified them.

Today, it’s so much more than a uniform. It is what all of our volunteers wear. It’s why all our volunteers are known as “Greyshirts,” and it’s simply the identity that unites everyone to Team Rubicon. Our Greyshirts come from the military and veteran community, they come from first responders, and of course, what we call “Kick Ass Civilians.” It takes everyone to do what we do, all skills. And so everyone comes to Team Rubicon, lends their expertise, their knowledge, their labor and their time, and we put them into a role that allows us to give service back to these communities.

Partners play an integral role in supporting your mission. What are your hopes for this new partnership with United Rentals and NASCAR as Dayton 500 weekend?

There’s a couple of key components that allow us to do what we do. First, it’s communities giving us license to operate and serve them. It’s that trusted bond built on local relationships. Second, it’s our volunteer base – our Greyshirts.

Third, it’s our donors and partners who really fuel the mission. They provide the resources and capability for us to train, equip, mobilize, and serve in these communities and do that on a year-round basis. Everything that we do is free of cost to the end users. We provide everything, so our corporate partners provide us both monetary support – mostly into our Ready Reserve Fund that allows us to do all the training preparation, equipping, and mobilizing as soon as a disaster occurs or even ahead of it. And they also provide us support with in-kind donations, including vehicles, equipment, and tools that we need to actually affect what we’re doing.

And that’s exactly where United Rentals comes in. United Rentals has generously donated to our Ready Reserve Fund, as has NASCAR. That provides the funds necessary to respond immediately to any disaster and keep our Greyshirts mobilized.

United Rentals is also our largest and most prevalent heavy equipment provider. For a lot of our operations – especially big disasters – heavy equipment is one of our most necessary components. We have heavy equipment operators who can come in and remove debris and open up infrastructure, transportation, etc. so emergency responders and others can access the area.

NASCAR has a highly impassioned fan base who deeply involved in their communities. And this partnership gives a lot of voice and awareness to the mission of Team Rubicon, our veteran ethos, and our ability to serve in all of these communities. Our biggest hope is that our presence at Daytona will put us one step closer to Team Rubicon becoming a household name, with more people putting on the grey shirt and joining our mission.

You’ve partnered with other professional sports organizations and franchises before, but what makes this partnership with NASCAR unique? What role do you see NASCAR and its fans playing in supporting Team Rubicon and its mission?

NASCAR enthusiasts are passionate about their community. They are strong veteran advocates, and there are a lot of veteran fans within the NASCAR community, so I think that the overlap between fans and Greyshirts is probably highly coupled already. But for those who may not be familiar with us, I think this partnership with NASCAR gives us that reach, that voice, that awareness, and that capability to really make sure that we can continue to attract the funding that we need and continue to attract volunteers who will show up and deploy with us to disasters in every zip code across the United States. And I think that energy and voice of NASCAR will help us educate people on the impact that we have and how the entire NASCAR community can support our mission.

What should Daytona 500 attendees look for if they want to learn more about how to register as Greyshirts?

I hope every NASCAR fan gets to see us and what we’re all about, whether it’s in person at Daytona or on social media. But if they want to get involved, either to support us financially or to put on a grey shirt, the easiest way is to go to TeamRubiconUSA.org. There’s a lot of information on there to read about the history of Team Rubicon, to understand what our current operations are and where they could get involved, to look at our metrics and impact, and how we do and what we do.

But I think the synergy between our communities is perfect. There’s very little daylight between Team Rubicon and NASCAR.