Tenth annual Mr. Aruba race raises more than $10K for JEGS Foundation

DELAWARE, OH – Mike “Mr. Aruba” DeChicco has been hosting his charity drag race for several years, and the 2014 edition will go down as the most successful to date.

The 10th annual Mr. Aruba “Winter Nationals” Bench Race and Charity Challenge raised more than $10,000 for the JEGS Foundation, bringing the total raised by DeChicco and Jane Graebner to nearly $40,000.

“I was able to attend this year’s event and I sure had a lot of fun,” reigning world champion Pro Stock racer Jeg Coughlin Jr. said. “The racing was great, the bench racing was epic, and the trash-talking was world class. These folks know how to have fun, and we continue to be so honored that they honor the JEGS Foundation and make these incredible contributions each year.”

DeChicco started the Winter Nationals in 2005 after he and a few friends decided to have some racing fun in the winter on a practice Christmas Tree, but when DeChicco learned a friend had cancer, he and Graebner turned the fun into a charitable event to support the JEGS Foundation Racing for Cancer Research.

The JEGS Foundation supports the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Foundation, the Comprehensive Cancer Center-James Cancer Hospital, and the Solove Research Institute at Ohio State University.

DeChicco and Graebner recently presented a check for $10,972 to the JEGS Foundation from the Winter Nationals.

Donations are collected to enter the Winter Nationals, and as the tradition goes, several race winners donate all or part of their prize winnings to the cause.

DeChicco won the Gamblers race, with runner-up George Jobe donating his $200 second-place prize. Chip Foust won the JEGS “The Joker is Wild” Race and donated the $100 cash portion of his winnings. Foust also won the “Race for the Wires,” and Ron Richards won the “Hemi Challenge.” Coughlin won the 50/50 drawing and donated the $207 from that pot.

“This group of friends epitomizes what drag racing is all about,” Coughlin said. “They race hard, but in the end they are great people with big hearts who never hesitate to help where they can. This is why our family loves the sport so much.”

For more information, log on to www.mraruba1965.com.