Jamie McMurray Visits Kids at Elementary School

SOUTH DAYTONA, Fla., February 8, 2019 – Jamie McMurray, the 2010 DAYTONA 500 champion, visited 140 fourth graders at South Daytona Elementary in advance of the DAYTONA Speedweeks Presented by AdventHealth.

McMurray is in town, preparing to drive the No. 40 AdventHealth Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in the Advance Auto Parts Clash on Feb. 10.

A father to two children ages 6 and 8, McMurray was at ease with the students.

“Coming out here to meet these kids, it is fun, and it reminds me of being at home,” he said. “It is fun to see the excitement they have. I actually feel like I'm chatting with my own kids.”

On the school’s basketball court, students asked McMurray a range of questions about the impact of nutrition and exercise on the health of both students’ and racecar drivers.

“I think ‘diet’ is one of the worst words; a diet is so temporary,” McMurray explained. “If you can learn at a young age what proper nutrition is and the proper food to eat and you just life your life that way, where you are not on a diet but are just living your everyday life, it is so much easier. If you can teach someone at this age about nutrition and exercise, it is so much easier to get a handle on it now, then by the time they are 20 or 25 and maybe have developed the wrong habits.”

McMurray gave the kids an up-close look at the AdventHealth show car and led the students in a walk around the school’s grassy field.

As part of their part of a five-year partnership with Volusia County Schools, AdventHealth brought McMurray to visit to the elementary students to showcase the role of health and wellness in sports, as well as teach children the importance of making healthy choices now so they can learn and grow.

For the past three years, AdventHealth and McMurray have had a partnership.

McMurray initially made his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) start in the No. 40 car and now he returns to his roots in the No. 40 car for the kickoff of the 2019 MENCS season.

This visit to South Daytona Elementary comes on the heels of AdventHealth’s expanded partnership with Chip Ganassi Racing to develop a robust Human Innovation and Development Lab (HIDL). Located at the Chip Ganassi Racing shop in Concord, North Carolina, the HIDL features tools and technology to develop and improve the performance of drivers and pit crew members.

“The Chip Ganassi Racing team's partnership with AdventHealth brought me out to South Daytona Elementary today,” McMurray said. “AdventHealth has a relationship with the local school district and they are trying to promote better nutrition and living a healthier lifestyle. That is something that is really important to me and the way we try and live our life.”

About AdventHealth
With a sacred mission of Extending the Healing Ministry of Christ, AdventHealth is a connected system of care for every stage of life and health. More than 80,000 skilled and compassionate caregivers in physician practices, hospitals, outpatient clinics, skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies and hospice centers provide individualized, wholistic care. A shared vision, common values, focus on whole-person health and commitment to making communities healthier unify the system's nearly 50 hospital campuses and hundreds of care sites in diverse markets throughout almost a dozen states. For more information about AdventHealth, visit AdventHealth.com, or Facebook.com/AdventHealth.