INDIANAPOLIS -- The Gleaners Food Bank off East 16th Street is in a rundown building more than 100 years old. The latest quote to repair the roof is more than the value of the 380,000-square-foot structure through which about 21 million tons of food move each year.
The buildings and houses around this area called Center City scream of poverty.
This is a side of the city that hosts Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a side I'd never seen before Thursday, seemingly another world from the scenic area on the canal where my hotel sits less than 3 miles away.
Fittingly, it is here Kyle Busch revealed a side of himself I'd never seen.
Others saw it, too.
Busch ventured into this area to help promote the "Bar Hunger" program that his primary sponsor, Snickers, uses to raise awareness for Feeding America. He didn't come with the attitude or bad-boy image we often see on race day.
He came because he wanted to, for the same reason his foundation became so involved in the St. John's home that provides housing and structure to children in need.
"To tell you the truth, I didn't know what to expect," said Pamela Altmeyer, one of the directors of this facility.
Altmeyer never met Busch before Thursday. Her impression of the 23-year-old was that of most who watch him on television -- "young and hotheaded."
By the end of the hour visit she was his No. 1 fan.
"I would be proud to have that young man for a son," she said.
It took only the few moments required to brief Busch on what happens at Gleaners for her to come to this realization.
"He realized it," Altmeyer said. "He got it. And he's got a passionate streak that makes him good for this campaign. It's important to him to help."
Busch's passion comes out in a different way at the track. If he doesn't win or if something goes wrong that denies him a chance to win, he'll often disappear into the motor coach lot without talking to reporters. Some fans call him "Cryle," and he gets two to three times as many boos as cheers during prerace introductions.
But that's Busch the competitor, the one willing to make moves many drivers wouldn't consider because he wants to win so badly. It's not the real Busch, the one who jumped to his feet with duct tape when Altmeyer needed help putting a "Bar None" that had fallen back on the wall.
"He obviously has a very thoughtful and strategic side," she said.
And he's a fast learner. He quoted me statistics about the program -- from the 20 counties this one supports to the 460 different charities it helps -- as effortlessly as he calculates lap times and what they mean.
For the record, the Feeding America program is part of the nation's largest hunger relief charity, providing food for more than 25 million Americans at risk of hunger through food banks such as this.
"You don't know those things until you hear them," Busch said.
And you don't really know Busch just from watching the television or chasing him down in the garage seeking comment as I did earlier this month following his last-lap crash at Daytona International Speedway.
Yes, I've picked on him about these things before. He became quite upset a few months ago when I suggested he shouldn't have competed in a NASCAR East/West Camping World Series race at Iowa Speedway because he was above that. He reminded me he did it for charity. He called me a name that many might agree was fitting.
That's why I ventured into a side of Indianapolis I'd never been to see a side of the driver I'd never seen. Just like Altmeyer, I was impressed. That there weren't a ton of fans invited to watch, making this a production to promote Busch's image more than what it really was all about, impressed me even more.
"I don't care how many people get to see it," Busch said, with a touch of the tone I've become familiar with. "This is me, something that is more in tune to who I am. Yeah, it's a Mars production and a Snickers deal, but they asked me 'What appearances do you want to do?' and this is one I wanted to do."
I'm sure I'll again write something Busch doesn't like sometime in the near future, and I'm sure he'll call me a name again as well. That's OK.
But I'm glad I got to see this side of him. So was Altmeyer, who wasn't a Busch fan before the visit.
"No," she said. "But I'll be rooting for him on Sunday."
More people would if they saw this side of him.
David Newton
