Turning wrenches may have given two NASCAR crew chiefs immense fame in the racing world. Now their recent rescue endeavor in tough times has magnified their names across the North Carolina community. Hurricane Helene struck the state back in September 2024, causing devastation to countless homes. Asheville, Boone, Banner Elk, and many other NC towns have not seen such destruction since the flood of 1916.

However, the afflicted people needed help and got it when they needed it most. Andy Petree, former Richard Childress Racing crew chief, and Matt McSwain, another veteran crew chief, chipped in. Recently, they revealed the jaw-dropping details of their efforts.

NASCAR veterans restoring order to a chaotic situation

Well, the two veterans have achieved a lot during their NASCAR careers. Andy Petree had first joined RCR as the crew chief for the legendary Dale Earnhardt’s team in 1993. That means he helped Earnhardt clinch the 1993 and 1994 Cup Series titles. Similarly, The Speed Company, founded by Matt Mcswain in 2004, has worked with premier race teams like Roush Racing and Penske. It focused on suspension design, development, and maintenance of NASCAR race cars. The two veterans used their wealth of technical knowledge in ‘Operation Helo’, a 90-helicopter effort to aid Hurricane Helene victims.

Appearing in a recent episode of ‘Kenny Conversations,’ these heroes shared the details with Xfinity Series veteran Kenny Wallace. First, Wallace pointed his question at Petree, who retired from his executive vice president role at RCR. Petree revealed the number of hours he spent driving a helicopter. “I’ve just got my helicopter out of Oklahoma…it had 10 hours on it when this happened. When we finished, we had 73. That’s how many hours.” Then Matt Mcswain chipped in about why a helicopter effort was inevitable: “It was just complete, utter devastation. It was unreal…There are only several handful airports in Western North Carolina, and those are devastated. You can’t fly fixed-wing missions over there, this is going to have to be a helicopter operation.” 

Matt Mcswain then helped organize Operation Helo, for which he put out social media feelers calling for volunteers. He expected only 5 or 6 helicopters to run, but in the end, got 33 volunteers to help out. Together with NASCAR personalities Petree, Cleetus McFarland, Greg Biffle, and the countless good Samaritans, Mcswain’s rescue efforts were a lot. He continued, “By the end of the day, we ran a little over 4000 helicopter missions. We rescued around 450 people…we took over the entire airport in Hickory…turned an old terminal building into a hospital. The restaurant we rented out for a week, we made it our pharmacy…When we were reducing people, it was from every gambit – we gave birth, we had a person die.” 

The need of the hour motivated these heroic people to chip in. And the way they got to know about the natural disaster was unique, too.

Pausing enjoyment to help

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Well, news of a natural disaster can come quite suddenly. Waking up to find large chunks of your neighborhood in utter devastation can be hit like a dagger. Then on the other side, the rescuers make last-minute cancellations to save the stranded people. Andy Petree was in such a situation. The retired NASCAR analyst was in Port Canaveral, Florida, about to get onto a cruise ship with his wife. He canceled plans when Matt Mcswain called him. Then 19-time NASCAR Cup Series race winner Greg Biffle got to know via a Facebook post – that a family was asking for aid in Banner Elk, North Carolina.

Matt Mcswain’s story began from utter oblivion. He told Kenny Wallace how a friend of his roped him into the noble cause. “A friend of mine, Doug Jackson, started a non-profit in 2017 called Operation Airdrop…providing logistical supplies for hurricane disaster relief…I didn’t have an idea. Me and my wife went to a hotel in Charlotte that night because we lost power. I wasn’t paying attention…He called me and he was like, ‘It’s pretty bad up there, I want to bring our non-profit.’ And I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ He said, ‘You better do some research.'” That research resulted in a massive rescue operation, as Mcswain, Petree, and others put their heads together to save people.

These NASCAR stars proved their noble mettle off the racetrack. Thanks to people like Andy Petree, Matt Mcswain, and others, North Carolina communities can feel safer.