When most people think of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. (NASCAR), they think of racetracks and cars. But when the Bodenschatz family thinks of it, they remember the “NASCAR Angels.”

“NASCAR Angels” is a show in its second season in which the “angels” travel around the country and fix run-down, cars.

North Canton resident, Jeff Bodenschatz, qualified to be featured on the show. He was diagnosed with colon cancer five years ago. A year afterward, he bought a 1969 Javelin to restore.

“I wanted it to be as original as possible and be able to drive it with my boys,” he said.

He has two sons in the North Canton School System, Nate and Tyler, and a son, Cameron, at The Ohio State University.

However, renovating the car was a time-consuming process.

“The restoration was slow because I was too tired and weak to work on it,” he said.

Their journey to the “NASCAR Angels” event began with a friend, Mrs. Donna Nickel, when she started “Operation Javelin.”

“He wanted to use it as a distraction while getting his cancer treatment,” she said. “But then [Jeff’s wife] told me that progress was slow on the car and Jeff was starting to get depressed about it.”

Nickel said Bodenschatz was considering selling the Javelin. When she heard this, she circulated a flyer describing “Operation Javelin” and enlisted the community’s help.

Nine days after the first flyers were sent out, they had spread into the Goodyear Company, the primary supporter of the “NASCAR Angels” event.

“We received an e-mail from [Goodyear] telling us about Jeff and the effort underway in North Canton to help him fix up his Javelin,” said Mr. Phil Alvidrez, executive producer of the show.

Alvidrez said the “NASCAR Angels” event look for “deserving people who could benefit from help with their transportation needs.”

“One of our producers flew to Ohio to meet Jeff and his family and decided they were perfect candidates for [our] help,” he said.

Jeff said he felt “excited and happy that the car was going to be restored by people who knew what they were doing.”

Alvidrez said that unlike Bodenschatz, recipients of their help must live in one of the NASCAR race cities on their production schedule.

“But since North Canton is close to our friends at Goodyear Gemini and Jeff’s story was so compelling, we decided to make an exception,” he said.

The “angels” came and took the Javelin to their workshop to repair it and after just a week and a half, it was time for the debut.

“NASCAR brought 250 release forms for the people there, but they ran out because there were so many,” Nickel said.

Junior Nate Bodenschatz said the debut was one of his favorite parts of the show.

“Just seeing how happy my dad was when he saw the car was great,” he said.

Jeff said that “happy” doesn’t even begin to explain how he felt.

“It was everything I wanted,” he said. “They restored the car but still kept it authentic.”

After the debut, Bodenschatz drove the newly restored Javelin in the July 4th parade.

“Jeff drove, and Tyler and his cousin sat in the back and threw out candy,” Meredith Bodenschatz, Jeff’s wife, said.

Jeff said that being in the parade was an exciting experience.

“Waving at everyone and seeing how they were excited to see me was great,” he said.

Meredith said some people even came up to the car to shake his hand.

Since then, the Bodenschatz family has gone to many car shows, including the Arby’s Car Show.

“People at Arby’s know our story and come over all excited and ask, ‘Is this the car?’” Meredith said.

Nickel said that what “Operation Javelin” ballooned into was “truly inspiring.”

“To some people, it was only a car, but to him it was much more,” she said.

After the show was over, Jeff Bodenschatz said he is “grateful” for all of the help.

“I would like to give a personal thanks to everyone that helped and participated with the Javelin and to all the support we’ve had over the past couple years,” he said.