NASCAR legend Richard Childress pledges 1 mn rounds of ammunition to Ukraine

NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Childress has offered to donate one million rounds of ammunition to the Ukrainian Armed Forces in a bid to help them combat the Russian forces in the ongoing war.

In an interview with Fox News, the legendary NASCAR driver said, "I was listening the other day to (Ukrainian) President (Volodymyr) Zelenskyy say he didn't want out, he wanted ammunition."

"I called my good friend Fred Wagenhals, who is the Chairman of AMMO, Inc., which is a publicly-traded company, POWW, and I said, 'Fred, we gotta help these people. They need ammunition.' And he stepped right up; he said, 'We'll do it,' and now we're turning our production to this as our number one priority," Childress added.

The 76-year-old American, who is a member of AMMO, Inc.'s Board of Directors, has been in NASCAR for over five decades, first as a driver before becoming an owner in the early 1980s. His personal net worth is estimated at 250 million dollars.

"This is a wake-up call for America, and why we have to have our Second Amendment. We have 82 thousand, 82 million gun owners in America, and to see the people in Ukraine fighting — it's terrible to see the lives that are being lost over there," he explained when asked why the cause meant so much to him. 

"We have to do all we can, and I felt with Ammo Inc. and myself, we were doing the right thing," he added.

Also read: Football world mourns death of two Ukrainian players; hail them as heroes

Speaking about the logistics of getting the ammunition to Ukraine, Childress said, "We're working with some government agencies, but to get it there quickly, we're going to work through a private company that will be working on getting it in there. The number one ammo they're needing right now over there is the 7.62s, and that's what we're going to be producing."

The sporting community has been taking stringent action against Russia as they continue to carry out airstrikes and on-ground assaults in Ukraine. FIFA and UEFA banned Russia from all international competitions, including qualifying games for the 2022 Qatar World Cup. 

UEFA also moved the May 28 Champions League final from St. Petersburg to Paris, while the governing bodies of tennis decided to suspend the WTA/ATP combined event set in Moscow this upcoming October.

And in the racing world, Formula One's Russian Grand Prix has been cancelled.

Also read: War on Ukraine: Which Russian teams are affected by FIFA, UEFA suspension?

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• Russia Ukraine Crisis
• Russia Ukraine War