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Hero (hir'o): A person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life.

This weekend Rick Crawford and the Circle Bar race team will have a special guest in the pits for the World Financial Group 200.  Lonnie Mixon a local racer from Crawford's hometown, Mobile, Alabama, will be the "extra man" on the Circle Bar team at Atlanta Motor Speedway.  While the definition of hero describes Mixon perfectly, he doesn't see it that way, he just helped a friend.  Monica McArdle suffered from a chronic kidney disease known as IgA nephropathy that had her on dialysis and searching for a kidney donor. In January McArdle celebrated the 1 year anniversary of Mixon's gift, the gift of life, the gift of a kidney to a friend's daughter who wouldn't live long without one. To honor Mixon the Circle Bar F-150 will carry a special National Kidney Foundation logo on the truck in Atlanta.  Rick Crawford's thoughts on Mixon; "The word hero gets thrown around a lot these days, some people say I'm a hero because I drive a race truck, I  don't think so.  It's guys like Lonnie Mixon that are the real hero's.  His courage is incredible and I'm proud he's here with us this weekend." As for Mixon, " I didn't do this because I wanted recognition or to be a hero, I did it because it was the right thing."

The National Kidney Foundation is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first kidney transplant in the United States.  Over the last 50 years over 400,000 transplants have been performed in the U.S..  The National Kidney Foundation, is a voluntary health organization, seeking to prevent kidney and urinary tract diseases, improve the health and well-being of individuals and families affected by these diseases, and increase the availability of all organs for transplantation. For more information on the National Kidney Foundation:

National Kidney Foundation
30 East 33rd St.
New York, NY 10016
Phone: (800) 622-9010
www.kidney.org

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will hold round 3 of the 2005 season under the lights at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Friday, March 18th in the World Financial Group at 9:00 PM EST. Live coverage provided by Speed Channel, MRN and XM Radio.