Prep Time: To Illustrate

NASCAR Crew Chief Decides Against Cheating

It was a small adjustment that could make a big difference. Sure, it was against NASCAR rules, but almost everyone else was doing it. So crew chief Tim Shutt crawled under the car of Mike McLaughlin, who races on the NASCAR Busch circuit.

"Joe [Gibbs, team owner] is adamant that we don't cheat," says Shutt, then a new believer who encountered Christ at a retreat for participants in the racing industry. "Most teams figure that as long as you get away with it, it's not cheating."

"I said to Mike that morning, 'If we're no good in practice, I'll put this piece—the illegal piece—on. Probably 30 other teams are doing it." I was justifying it.

"I got up under the car, I got halfway through putting it on, and that verse, 'Seek ye first the kingdom of God,' came flashing in red in front of me, and whoa, that was it. I said, 'I'm leaving this up to you, God.'" Shutt didn't put the piece on the car.

McLaughlin won the race—Talladega, one of the biggest races ...

Subscriber access only You have reached the end of this Article Preview

To continue reading, subscribe to Christianity Today magazine. Subscribers have full digital access to CT Pastors articles.

Homepage Subscription Panel

Read These Next

Related
Preaching to the Tattooed
Preaching to the Tattooed
From the Magazine
Hope Is an Expectant Leap
Hope Is an Expectant Leap
Advent reminds us that Christian hope is shaped by what has happened and what’s going to happen again.
Editor's Pick
How Codependency Hampered My Pastoral Ministry
How Codependency Hampered My Pastoral Ministry
Part of the emotional drain I felt during the pandemic came from trying to manage my members’ feelings.
close