Bill Pierre Ford

The votes are in, and after five weeks of online voting for the JDRF-themed design that will appear on Bob Tasca III’s Shelby Mustang Funny Car during the NHRA U.S Nationals, a total of $84,542 was raised for research for type 1 diabetes.

Over 300 designs were submitted for the online contest, and the top six donation-earning designs have been submitted to the Ford judging table for final selection. The winning design will be unveiled on Tasca’s racecar in downtown Indianapolis on August 28.

“The goal of this design contest was to help raise awareness for JDRF, and with over $84,000 in donations from people from all across the country, I think we accomplished that goal,” said Al Giombetti, Ford Customer Service Division executive director. “We’re very excited to have one of the top six designs on our car during the U.S. Nationals in Indy, and look forward to continuing our partnership with JDRF.”

The online fundraising contest, sponsored by Motorcraft and Quick Lane, was put into place to help raise awareness and funds for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), which is the leading charitable funder and advocate of type 1 diabetes research worldwide.

“We are very excited at how much support was shown from within JDRF and for JDRF from people all across the country through the online car design contest,” said Gina Roche-Kelly, senior account manager, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Ford Global Walk Team. “We’re very grateful to the Motorcraft and Quick Lane employees at Ford for helping get us closer to our goal of finding a cure for type 1 diabetes.”

The winning designer will participate in the unveiling of their car in Indianapolis, prior to the running of the U.S. Nationals over Labor Day weekend. The winner will also spend time with the Tasca racing team at the track, and see their car design run during qualifications for the race.

Top Six Designers:
Samuel Millard:             Age 6, raised $6,801:               Greater Dallas Chapter
Steven Klingbiel:           Age 10, raised $6,220:             Metro Detroit Chapter
Kevin Mewhinney:        Age 10, raised $5,780:             Northeast Ohio Chapter
Allie Puntel:                  Age 15, raised $5,643:             Northeast Ohio Chapter
Alex Nolan:                  Age 13, Raised 5,595:             Charlotte Chapter
Riley Wayland:             Age 12, raised $5,395:             Greater Dallas Chapter

To view the top six designs and the rest of the JDRF car designs, please visit www.jdrf.org/ford.