Cars & Drivers In Avondale, Hearts & Minds In Blacksburg

In addition to the Virginia Tech decal on his car, Virginia native Denny Hamlin will wear a VT logo on his helmet to honor the victims of the tragedy that hit close to home:

"It's a big deal for me and Elliott [Sadler] and Jeff and Ward [Burton] and those guys that are from Virginia. It means a little bit more us than probably anybody else.

"Everyone feels it and I've obviously been a Virginia Tech fan for a long time and have talked to [head football coach] Frank Beamer before. Oddly enough, I just got a bunch of stuff in the mail from [him] the day after all that happened. It's amazing what the world's coming to. We've still got to press on and keep in our hearts the memories of the families of the victims."

Jeff Burton:

"Being from South Boston, Virginia, Virginia Tech has a lot of people that go there from the South Boston area. There are some people that I do know that are going to school there; more so I'm friends with their parents or my parents or my in-laws are friends with their parents and that kind of a thing. I don't believe I know anyone that was killed or injured. It's hard to get your hands around something like that; to think that something like that could happen.

"Blacksburg is just a stereotypical sleepy town that is just a nice place to live and a nice place to raise kids. It's kind of scary, really. It could happen anywhere at anytime. I just don't know what there is to say... it's awful. It's an awful deal, no question and hopefully they can start the healing process."