A look back at the 2026 season, and the Driven to Give Road Rally that closed it with $87,000 for Indianapolis-area charities.
Some years you measure in miles. This one, from the first week of May to the middle of October, covered a lot of them and brought the Indianapolis automotive community together at every stop.
It started with the Shift Road Rally in May and kept moving all summer. Ferragosto filled Motor District with Italian style and performance, All-Americana celebrated the cars that define American exceptionalism, the Porsche Classic Restoration Challenge drew the marque’s finest restoration work from across the country, and the Veloce Hangar Party closed out the build-up in style. Then came Artomobilia itself, filling the Carmel Arts & Design District and Carmel Midtown, alongside the Tom Wood Porsche-Palooza, Gator Motorsport Lotus-Palooza, Dreyer & Reinbold BMW-Palooza, and Mercedes-Benz of Indianapolis Mercedes-Palooza. The Moyer Fine Jewelers Elegance & Artistry Ladies’ Luncheon added grace to the calendar and $13,000 to the St Mary’s Early Childood Center. Zusammen closed the season in October with German machines and a beautiful fall afternoon back at Motor District.
Twelve events, one community, and a season worth remembering. The year had one more drive in it, and it may have been the best of all.
Driven to Give Road Rally
This past weekend, fifteen entries ran the best roads southern Indiana has to offer, from the Silo Auto Club in downtown Indianapolis to the finish in Carmel at the Turner Jeffery Building. Structured as a poker run, the day turned a great drive into real giving. Then, on Saturday afternoon, Turner Woodard surprised the field: the Woodard Van Riper Family Foundation would match each entry not at 100%, but at 150. Every driver’s charity would receive $5,000.
Here is the field, and the causes they carried: Eric Allen & Mark Young for the Alpha Sigma Phi Foundation, Kent Baker & Tom Bennett for Care for Kids Foundation, Jim & Louise Combs for 2nd Chance Indiana, Bo & Nancy Elder for Random Acts of Flowers, Jack Farr & Steve Lew for the Johnson County Community Foundation, Phil Gumpert & Phil Pecoraro for Indiana Wish, Daniel & Beth Ann Klingler for the Humane Society for Hamilton County, Fritz Kreutzinger & Sharon Brennan for Seeds of Hope Indy, Charlie Mullen for Seeds of Hope Indy, Mike & Liz Simmons for the Little Wish Foundation, Bill & Janell Voss for the Graham and Courtney Rahal Foundation, Steve & Jennifer Weyreter for The Oaks Academy, Steve & Kimbra Wilson for the Lafayette Transitional Housing Center, Taylor Woodard & Matt Statman for the Indianapolis Zoological Society, and Whitney Woodard & David Riestra for IndyHumane.
Click to view the Driven to Give photo album. Compliments of Michael Wilson.
The drive is the game, and three hands rose to the top. Mike & Liz Simmons held the best hand, earning an additional $6,000 for the Little Wish Foundation. Bo & Nancy Elder took second, adding $4,000 for Random Acts of Flowers. Whitney Woodard & David Riestra finished third, bringing another $2,000 to IndyHumane.
Thank You
None of this happens without the Woodard family and their Woodard Van Riper Family Foundation. Our deepest thanks to Turner, Diann, Taylor, Turner John, and Whitney Woodard. Their generosity, and that decision to raise the match to 150%, turned a single day of driving into $87,000 for charities serving our community. That is the number that matters most. It will go to work close to home, supporting children and families, veterans in transition, animals in need, and neighbors across central Indiana.
Thanks are owed as well to Mike Simmons and the team at Silo Auto Club & Conservancy, our starting point, Michael Wilson, capturing special moments in photos, Bob Greenman, Brad & Meg Osborne for their help throughout the day, and to Adam Hoffman and the team at Big Hoffa’s Smokehouse, who kept everyone fed.
To every driver, co-pilot, and the foundation: thank you for showing what this community can do when it points a great day toward a good cause.
See the photos from the day at the Driven to Give Road Rally.
Here’s to the roads behind us, and the ones ahead in 2027. If you and your favorite charity would like to be considered for our next charitable Driven to Give Road Rally, please share your details with us.
