Tuesday Toolbox: Kyle Shouse – GNCC Racing

What recent areas / projects have you worked with Reach Out Worldwide?

So now we are shooting a TV series from the Weather Channel. We are renovating / rebuilding homes for families we have been in contact with / helped with as a result of a natural disaster in the last six months to one year. The house I just visited was in Dawson Springs, Kentucky. EF-⅘ went over 100 miles and destroyed everything it touched. 75% of Dawson Springs was destroyed and homes literally exploded. The zero ground zone looks like a bomb. Everything north of the house we’re working on for filming is gone, and everything in the south is still there.

How can people connect to help? Is it financial or physical assistance?

There are many ways to get involved and I would encourage our racing community to do so. You can go to ROWW.org and click the donate button to contribute what you can. All of this directly helps maintain ROWW. Lowez is the largest contributor to ROWW. Physically, if you want to become a volunteer, you can go to the website, click the volunteer button and sign up. We now have 1,800 volunteers across the country. This ranges from firefighters / paramedics, veterans, heavy equipment operators, foresters and even volunteers who have no experience and want to do their part.

It is no secret that the GNCC takes our veterans and those who now serve in the military seriously. A few years ago, we added the Warrior class, and we received the Moto Hero award, which we present to our veterans, military and military personnel, as well as our first lifeguards, every race. Due to the fact that Remembrance Day comes in late May, I know that many riders will honor members of their families and friends who died while serving our country and defending our freedom this weekend at Penton. You’re doing something pretty cool in that regard. Tell us about your honor this weekend?

Every racing season I want to pay tribute to a local veteran who died defending our country, not far from where I come from. This year I’m going for Sean Meher from Gurney, Illinois. He served as USMC from 2003 to 2005. He had to return home 2 days before he was killed. He had always been a gunner at Humvee, but he asked him to go that night since it was one of the guys ’birthday, and wanted to give him a nap. They were attacked near Fallujah, and Sean was killed instantly. Humvee got off the road and completely overturned. Three other Marines were shot, but Sean was the only one killed. I have a Sean memorial in the front wheel deck of my ATV, as well as a T-shirt specifically made for the John Pentan race. After the race, the T-shirt is given to the family. Nielsen Enterprises and I (my local power sports dealer) also donate money to the family and allow them to select a group of veterans who would like to donate money to Sean.

Okay, how do you find the time to do all this charity work, balancing between racing and daily work?

My wife complains about it all the time. I currently have my own solar company and have sales representatives that I manage. I work very closely with ROWW and try to drive as much time as possible. Also, I also have four kids, so that makes things interesting. We are in a good position in our lives and I want my children to understand that life is very precious and that you always have to do something to make someone else’s life better.