Ukrainian NASCAR Driver Grateful to Roger Penske, Hailie Deegan & Team Hendrick Among Others for Help During Russian-Ukrainian Crisis

Since the last month, there has been a major crisis in the country of Ukraine. The nation has been in a conflict with Russia, and the situation is continuing to unfold. From a sporting perspective, many Ukrainian athletes have been adversely affected. One of them is NASCAR Whelen Euro Series driver Igor Romanov. Fortunately, he has been on the receiving end of a lot of help from the NASCAR community.

He said, “We are really grateful to the United States of America. Really grateful for the NASCAR community, Richard Childress, Roger Penske, Stefan Parsons, Hailie Deegan. Team Hendrick. It’s really important for us… I want one day to come on one of the (NASCAR) circuits with the Ukrainian flag.”

How has the NASCAR community helped Romanov?

As it happened, there were a variety of tributes and offers of aid from the paddock. One of them was from Richard Childress, who pledged to donate ammunition to Ukraine. Meanwhile, the Team Penske organization elected to run decals of the Ukraine flag on its cars. Additionally, the organization donated around $1 million to the World Central Kitchen to help provide meals in response to the crisis.

At the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the BJ McLeod Motorsports Xfinity team ran the “Ukraine Strong” logo on Parson’s car. At the following race in Atlanta, David Gilliland Racing truck driver Hailie Deegan ran the Ukraine flag on the vehicle. Finally, Rick Hendrick and the Hendrick Automotive Group pledged $200,000 to the Samaritan’s Purse organization.

The charity’s purpose is to support disaster assistance for the victims of the conflict. Additionally, in Las Vegas, the Hendrick Motorsports team pledged even more money toward Ukraine relief. To be precise, the team would donate $2,000 for every lap that a Hendrick Motorsports car lead in the race.

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Coming back to Igor Romanov himself, he has competed in two races in the 2021 season. In those races, he finished 19th and 21st. He made his debut in 2020, competing in four races, with the best finish of 12th at the Circuit Zolder.