Jimmie Johnson is well known for his skills on the NASCAR circuit. Last year, he earned himself a spot amongst the most impression drivers in stock car racing history by taking home his seventh NASCAR season victory, tying Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt for the greatest number of Cup Series championships in the sport’s history.
But on top of being one hell of a driver, Johnson is a pretty decent guy. Among his other good deeds, he created the Jimmie Johnson Foundation, which seeks to raise money to support lower-income students in K-12 schools across America. And what’s a great way for a NASCAR driver to raise some money? Auction off a cool car his fans will love. In the case of the Jimmie Johnson Foundation, that means a new Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Convertible in top-tier 3LZ trim.
Of course, as anyone who’s ever rifled through the sketchy classifieds in the back of a copy of Motor Trend knows, there are plenty of organizations—some seemingly legit, other less so—out there auctioning off muscle cars and speed machines for one cause or another. Combine that glut of opportunity with the ever-shortening attention span of the average person these days, and even an acclaimed NASCAR driver’s charity auction can get lost in the signal noise.
So to stir up a little more awareness of his Corvette, Johnson took a young fan named Tyler out for a spin in the Corvette Z06 convertible in question. And when we say “spin,” we mean “spin.” Johnson proceeded to crank the wheel and peg the throttle of the 650-horsepower sports car, sending it into a series of donuts…and prompting a priceless reaction from the kid in the passenger’s seat.
(Granted, this means it’s probably no longer in pristine condition, but we have a feeling the person whol ultimately winds up with Johnson’s Corvette probably won’t mind.)