NASCAR driver David Ragan said he was in “awe” of the service men and women of our military, and spoke at length about the “pride” he takes in representing fallen heroes during an interview with Breitbart News Saturday on SiriusXM.

This Memorial Day weekend, NASCAR dedicated their race at Charlotte Motor Speedway to America’s fallen heroes. The race, called “600 Miles of Remembrance,”‘ will feature special tributes as each Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series car will bear the name of a fallen service member on their windshields.

In an interview with Breitbart Deputy Political Editor Amanda House, Ragan told of the special significance of the name on his car. The name of a veteran who shares many of the same roots as the NASCAR driver.

“It’s an honor to have Sergeant First Class Ricky Crockett,” Ragan said. He was an Army vet for 20 years, and died in Baghdad back in 2004. He’s from Georgia, that’s where I’m from, and every Memorial Day weekend is out Coca-Cola 600, the longest, toughest race of the year on the NASCAR schedule. So, it’s only fitting that we honor our fallen men and women that passed away serving our country on Memorial Day weekend, in our toughest, most grueling race…”

Ragan will meet with SFC Crockett’s son and nieces prior to the race. House asked Ragan what he hoped they would take away from the event.

“The biggest thing is just that we still appreciate and value the sacrifices he made for our country,” Ragan explained. Its very hard understanding and knowing how they feel firsthand, because we’re not in their shoes. But the best thing that I can do is tell them that we still appreciate him. Even if its been 20 years, that we can still remember their father, family member, or uncle in this case. And say look, your father made a great sacrifice for the Army, for all of the men and women here in the U.S., and it allows us to come out and compete in a NASCAR race, in a free world.

“So I’m very grateful to be an American, and grateful for men and women like Ricky, who gave the ultimate sacrifice.”

When asked how his car’s appearance has changed in honor of Memorial Day, Ragan was at no loss for words.

“This is a big weekend for our country obviously, but it’s a big weekend for NASCAR,” Ragan said. “The Coca-Cola 600 like I mentioned earlier the longest race on our schedule, 600 miles. It’s kind of a test of man and machine. But the sponsors, the partners, Coca-Cola, they do a great job remembering our men and women who currently serve, or have served.

“So our car always has a little patriotic tribute, it has some red stripes and some stars and stripes on the quarter panel. Kind of integrated on the front hood with our sponsor NTS Trucking. A national trucking service which provides logistics services for companies all around the U.S. that have a lot of veterans working for them. So its always neat to have some of their guests at the race track.

“But we see so many men and women in uniform here on Sunday watching the race taking part in the pre race activities, it’s always a fun day to cap off a great Memorial Day weekend on Sunday night.”

SFC Crockett served with 82nd Airborne Division out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and hailed from Broxton, Georgia. Not very far from where Ragan grew up in Unadilla.

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