Written by Barbara Toombs
When Select Blinds CMO Rick Steele had the winning bid of $300,000 on David Ragan’s NASCAR race car at the 2019 Scottsdale Auction to benefit Shriners Hospitals for Children, it began a relationship that has lasted far beyond the auction block.
It all starts with a bid.
Back in 2013 at the Barrett-Jackson Reno Tahoe Auction, Tim Whited – a businessman with a longtime passion for collector cars – scored the winning bid on the first production 2014 Cadillac CTS V-Sport: $120,000 that went directly to the SAE Foundation, an organization that helps fund and promote STEM education across the globe. That sale led to an invitation from the Foundation to become a member of their prestigious Board of Trustees, where Whited remains a vital contributor to the Foundation’s cause to this day.
Rick Steele (center) and his wife Regina celebrated his winning bid on the #38 race car with Craig Jackson, David Ragan and Steve Davis.
Fast-forward to the 2019 Scottsdale Auction. NASCAR driver David Ragan brought his #38 Shriners Hospitals for Children race car – which he drove during multiple Monster Energy Cup Series races in the 2018 season – to the auction block, with the entire sale price earmarked for Shriners Hospitals. Ragan serves as the NASCAR ambassador for Shriners International and Shriners Hospitals for Children, which has been a sponsor of his since 2012. The car caught the eye of Select Blinds co-founder and CMO Rick Steele, who has a soft spot for charitable causes that help children.
“What this car did to me, the emotion it evoked … my mom was a Shriners Hospital kid 60 years ago, and the hospital helped her out in a huge way,” Steele said during a presentation at his Arizona-based company recently. “David is so giving with his time with Shriners Hospital, and helping out children’s charities was really the denominator that sent me over the top. I just said ‘I gotta get to know this guy, I want to be involved with this stuff.’”
The #38 Select Blinds race car is now shining on racetracks around the country.
And get involved he did. After he snagged the winning bid of $300,000 for the race car, Steele and Ragan got to chatting after the sale and soon became fast friends – to the point that Steele proposed Select Blinds should be one of the primary sponsors for Ragan’s #38 car, part of the Front Row Motorsports team competing in the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.
“That was one of the most memorable things I’d ever done in my lifetime,” Ragan said. “Making a positive impact on a bunch of kids’ lives all around the country, and all the emotions and the drama that went on when we were selling that car – that’s something I’ll never forget. We were glad that Rick was there, and was able to buy this car and make a difference – that started our relationship. The story of Rick and Select Blinds – working hard, having a great product, taking risks, pushing the envelope to try and make progress – that’s a lot like Front Row Motorsports and what we’ve done over the last eight to 10 years.”
The #38 Select Blinds Ford Mustang made its first appearance at the Daytona 500 in February, continued through the TicketGuardian 500 in Arizona in March and the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte at the end of May, and will zip around the track at the South Point 400 in Las Vegas in September.
All because of a bid and a relationship forged on the Barrett-Jackson block!
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