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NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES: CROWN ROYAL PRESENTS, THE JOHN WAYNE WALDING 400 AT BRICKYARDJuly 26, 2014Terrence J.Justin MooreJohn Wayne WaldingINDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA THE MODERATOR: Welcome, everyone, to the Economaki press conference room. Delighted to have with us in this particular case, the namesake of our race, a part of the Crown Royal Your Hero's Name Here program. This is just a great group. With us is Justin Moore, reigning Academy of Country Music New Star award winner. He'll be performing in the Brick Fest tonight; Terrence J, who is a co‑anchor of E! News and actor, and if I remember you got your start in the NASCAR program as an intern, the Drive For Diversity program; and then the man of the hour really in so many ways is John Wayne Walding. This gentleman comes from Little Elm, Texas. This guy is truly remarkable, a Green Beret, 12 years' duties in Iraq and Afghanistan. I could go on and on about this gentleman who lost part of a leg in a firestorm in 2008. He's the founder of the Five Toes custom program that gives back to veterans, and I think most importantly when you hear about this gentleman, he has won the Bronze Star, the Silver Star, the Purple Heart and the Combat Infantry Badge. When you listen to that story, there's a good reason why he's our hero for this race, and welcome to Indianapolis. We're delighted to have all of you. John, what's it like to have a race and an event in some sense in your honor? JOHN WAYNE WALDING: Well, I told Terrence out there, I feel cooler than Burt Reynolds. I've my name out there. He's Smokey and the Bandit, so if you're cooler than that guy, it's awesome. It's a wonderful experience. I've been absolutely well received the entire time by Indianapolis, so thank y'all for having me. THE MODERATOR: First NASCAR race? JOHN WAYNE WALDING: Yeah, I've been killing bad guys for the last 12 years, so my social life has kind of sucked, but bad guys have been sucking, too. Now I get to come back and get a taste of what makes America awesome, which is NASCARs. THE MODERATOR: You did the Boston marathon and went back and did some sniper training? JOHN WAYNE WALDING: Yeah, the Boston Marathon is one of those things where you always make a joke, you can't beat a fat one‑legged guy. I'm already swimming uphill because I've got five toes. They've got the hand cranks at Walter Reed, and I was trying to stay in shape and do cardio, and went up there, I got fourth place, and I was mad that I could have took home the gold if I would have trained. That was cool. I did sniper school. I really say to everyone that we owe it to the fallen to live well, and that's something that people need to understand. Guys are still dying, and if you don't know someone that has given the ultimate sacrifice, if you don't try to live every day as precious as it truly is, then it's a travesty to them. Just coming back and not being the best I can just isn't enough, so I went back, in fact they didn't even know I had five toes when I was in sniper school, so we started doing stalking. You get your Chewbacca suit on and go through the woods and everything, so obviously we had to change clothes, and they were like, dude, you've got five toes. I'm like, that's right, I've got five toes. There's parts in there to where you had to run and go in and do they call it stress eval, and I never got last. When they saw the times where I wasn't in last place, I was like, I'm just saying one‑legged guy didn't finish last. For all you ten‑toed people you'd better step it up. It's amazing. THE MODERATOR: Terrence J., you've come up in many ways in the NASCAR family, and you have to understand the importance of this event on multiple fronts. TERRENCE J.: Absolutely. To be able to sit here next to John, it's just really inspiring. I was complaining to my girlfriend I lost my toenail the other day because I was playing basketball too much, and I'm like, baby, I'm really hurt. I need you to bring me some soup. He's like, I've got five toes so I've got to shut up from here on. But no, it's just a really inspirational weekend. I started my career at NASCAR. I was an intern in this very room, and it's just really a pleasure to be here. THE MODERATOR: Justin, can five toes and a missing toenail be incorporated into a country song? JUSTIN MOORE: I believe so. I've already written half of it sitting over here. I kind of echo Terrence's thoughts. It's very inspiring to be a part of this. I think this is my fourth year in a row now to be here and to be a part of this in some capacity, and it's more fun and more exciting every year, and to get to know guys like him has been very, very cool for me. THE MODERATOR: It's guys like him and fans and everything that goes with the entire NASCAR experience, and I would expect this is an experience for you and your fans. JUSTIN MOORE: It is. I've said for a long time even before becoming involved with the Brickyard and this program in particular that there's a lot of parallels between NASCAR fans and country music fans. I think there's a couple of reasons for that. I think passion is what drives this sport on both sides. Somebody hates somebody real bad out there and somebody loves somebody real bad out there. I think the same passion you find in country music. You know, on both sides of the fence. I think another reason for there being so many similarities between who shows up at these races and who shows up at our shows, it's predominantly a blue collar, working man's sport, and I think that's what country music was originally founded on is that kind of stuff. So I think becoming friends with some of these drivers and some of these guys who work in NASCAR, there's a whole lot of parallels between what we do and what they do, and it's been fun to get to see that, even more so the last few years. Q. I've got to hear about your marathon experience. I ran it, too. You probably beat me. JOHN WAYNE WALDING: Well, I did it in an hour and 52 minutes. Q. That's a lot faster than me. JOHN WAYNE WALDING: Well, I'm a Green Beret so don't‑‑ Q. Talk to me about it. JOHN WAYNE WALDING: Well, again, I didn't anticipate to do a marathon. I anticipated to stay in shape is what's behind getting there. But there's an organization called Achilles International and they have a freedom team where they pay for wounded warriors to do that challenge and overcome it.  And they asked me, I've got a wife and four kids, so at that time it was only two, but we have cable now so I'm going to have five. Let's get that straight. They asked me if I wanted to go to Boston, and I asked if my family could come, and they said absolutely. So I flew the family up to Boston. We did Fenway Park. If you haven't ever been there, that's an American icon right there to go see. It's beautiful. So we did that, and then we did the marathon. If you've never seen the non‑able bodied portion of marathons, it is the absolute epitome of perseverance. To see the stories behind all these people, the gentlemen that pushes his son through‑‑ I've got a guy, Rich Whitehead, no knees. Not no legs, he had nothing, and I think he ran a three‑hour marathon. The guy is absolutely awe‑inspiring. I'm nothing. I'm a redneck from Groesbeck that joined the Army. To see the awe‑inspiring stuff there, it's powerful, it truly is. Again, life‑changing. It was awesome. Boston was great. Going through 26.2 miles and there was people on every single inch of that cheering you on, and when you come down I think it's Boylston Avenue or the last stretch, talk about being a barrel‑chested freedom fighter wanting to cry because it was fun. It was great. In fact, they got a great picture of my wife hugging me at the end. It was awesome. That did not suck. Q. You said you have four kids? JOHN WAYNE WALDING: I do, last I checked, yeah. I've got a 10‑year‑old daughter, a nine‑year‑old boy, a four‑year‑old daughter and a one‑year‑old daughter. Q. You're busy. JOHN WAYNE WALDING: Yeah, absolutely. Q. What do you hope that they take away from your experience? JOHN WAYNE WALDING: My children? My experience here? Q. Your experience in life, perseverance and such. JOHN WAYNE WALDING: Being a part of something bigger than themselves. I think as Americans, America is not awesome because it's America, it's just the people inside it that make it awesome. People need to understand that it's precious and it can be lost, and that's why we're awesome is because we feel like we're a part of something bigger than us. Some people worry about getting a bigger house, a bigger paycheck, a bigger car. What about something bigger than you, what about the guy to the left and the right and helping the person back. That's why with my company I told them from the beginning I can't just provide a product, it's got to be an idea of helping people. When I lost my leg, not only was I a grown man but I was a Green Beret, alpha male, type‑A personality, I can do anything, jump out of planes, climb mountains. I can't walk, so to swallow that pill that I cannot walk without help was something mentally that I had to overcome, and when you have to change your life, I give the scenario that I feel like Captain Jack Sparrow where that compass is just spinning around in circles. Green Berets are soldiers in general. We're very motivated people. I think our work ethic is unparalleled, but if you don't have the direction to channel that, you don't know where to go. That's why that compass is spinning. And I think it's very underrecognized that we're losing 20 people a day to PTSD suicides, and that's because they feel overwhelmed with what they have to do next in life. That's what I hope my kids get, just being a part of something bigger. Obviously you need to take care of yourself and your family but what about the people next to you. I tell people, I'm a country boy so I've gotten a bear hug from America, and if it stops with me it's a travesty. I want the person behind me to get it and the person behind them to get it so we realize we got it wrong in Vietnam. Those guys came home ‑‑ first of all, they didn't want to go and they went, they got back, got spit on, got called baby killer, and with me, I get a freaking race named after me. This is awesome. But yeah. That's what I hope they get. THE MODERATOR: We appreciate your support of our event. Congratulations. FastScripts by ASAP Sports |
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