ROCKINGHAM — Harrington Square will be filled with autos this weekend for Redeemed Racing’s inaugural Crusin’ With Care car show.
The event, scheduled from 10-noon on Saturday, is a benefit for the North Carolina Heroes Fund.
According to Redeemed Racing founder Branson Lear, 50% of the proceeds will go toward NCHF, a nonprofit that works with veterans who are in a time of financial need.
James Mims, also of Redeemed Racing, said it seemed a fitting charity with the event being just before Veterans Day. Mims added that future shows may benefit another organization.
Registration begins at 9 a.m. at a cost of $20 per car.
Raffle and 50/50 tickets will also be sold during the event. Those buying more than $20 worth of raffle tickets will receive a free Redeemed Racing T-shirt. All proceeds from raffle tickets will go toward the charity. Sales of the older T-shirts will also go toward NCHF.
Taco Factory and Bently’s Brews will be on site providing food and coffee.
Lear said there will be nine judged categories. Best in Show will be decided by the entrants and Director’s Choice will be picked by the Redeemed Racing crew.
Other awards include “Best of” the three major American manufacturers (Ford, General Motors, Mopar), Best European, Best Japanese Domestic and Best Race Car. There will also be a category they’re calling “Why Not?”
“It doesn’t have to fall into a specific class,” said Mims. “Whether it be a tribute car or whether it be something that we just want that person to get an award. Maybe they don’t fit in (to an already judged category).”
The show will also incorporate a ministry side.
Mims said there will be a tent set up at the square for people to pray or submit prayer requests. Attendees will also have the opportunity to write their favorite Bible verses on the hood of Lear’s drift car — a gold BMW E46.
Branson Lear drives on the Rockingham Speedway road course during MB Drift's Summer Vibes in 2026.
RO file photo
Lear said the idea for Redeemed Racing came in 2023 as he was “chasing dreams” of learning to work on cars and become involved in the motorsports world.
“I woke up one night with this idea that I wanted a racing ministry,” he said, naming it Redeemed Racing.
Fast forward to 2025, Lear met Mims and started a men’s Bible study with another friend, Hunter McGee.
Lear, who has been participating in MB Drift events at Rockingham Speedway, said Mims had expressed an interest in drag racing — so he told him about Redeemed Racing.
From November to January, the three worked on designing a logo and they released their first T-shirt.
“This is actually something we want to do,” Lear said. “This is something that God put on our hearts to pursue as a ministry.”
After attending several motorsports events throughout the spring, Lear and Mims wanted a way “to bring Christ downtown.”
“When we get out here to the track — and it’s not everybody — but a good mix of what you’re around, you can’t help but find person after person where you find a … heaviness,” Mims said.
“In this realm where everybody’s having a good time, everybody’s doing something they enjoy, there’s a lot of depression, a lot of drug abuse and there’s a lot of suicide,” Mims continued. “You look at that, and any person would go, ‘Well then what can I do to help in the situation?’
“Especially as Christians, you go, ‘What can I do, not just to help, but how can I minister?’”
Mims said the goal is to “reach people where they are.”
“It’s easy to be a Christian in the pew in church,” said Mims, who pastors Mount Pleasant Church just outside Ellerbe. “But outside of that … it’s a little difficult sometimes.”
Lear said the approach for Redeemed Racing has never been preaching at the track.
“I want to go and I want to meet … this person … I want to know your story, I want to tell you my story and I want to show you how God worked in my life,” Lear said. “It was never a ‘You’re wrong, I’m right,’ it was a ‘I want to meet you where you are, let’s build a relationship and let me just tell you about my Jesus.’
“I’m not trying to tell you that … anything you do is absolutely wrong because you don’t believe in God,” Lear continued. “I’m telling you that Jesus loves you and that’s what matters more than anything.”
“Thats our focus and that’s what pushes us along with everything we do,” Mims added.
For more on the ministry, visit the Redeemed Racing page on Facebook.
