TROY — For Miami County veterans eager to see the national monuments honoring their service, the trip from Troy to Washington, D.C., takes 500 miles when they take it on their own.

Rarely outdone, sprint car legend Jack Hewitt can get them there in three miles.

On July Fourth, the National Sprint Car hall-of-famer will unload his two-seat sprint car at the Miami County Fairgrounds to raise money for Mission: Veterans to D.C.

Thanks to efforts such as those from Hewitt, the Piqua-based organization is nearing its ninth trip to the nation’s capital.

Glenn Devers started Veterans to D.C. in 2007 after meeting a World War II veteran unsure if he would have the ability — physically and financially — to see the war memorials on his own. The organization took 55 vets to Washington in October 2007 and has since taken nearly 300 vets and their traveling companions in first-class fashion.

“I wanted to thank our veterans some way and this was the most tangible way to get them to D.C. to see their memorials, which they deserve,” Devers said.

“I was ready to take the veterans in a wheelbarrow if I had to.”

Instead, he found Hewitt’s bright yellow No. 21 Valley Eye Institute-sponsored two-seater that roars around the fairgrounds’ half-mile dirt track at speeds of 115 mph.

The spots to take those six laps — one warm-up, four at full speed and one cool down — are going even faster.

Sponsors of Veterans to D.C. with their $500 donations are scheduled to get the first rides Monday. After that, those wanting to experience what it’s like to be Hewitt are up next. Rides also may be offered Sunday if there’s an overflow demand. Cost is $200 per person to sit behind Hewitt (named one of the 25 greatest sprint car drivers by the National Sprint Car Poll) and experience what it’s like to go into a corner full speed and then turn right to go left.

As much as Hewitt loves that ride, it’s another that he expects to thrill him even more. He hopes to travel with the veterans soon, possibly on the next trip during the first weekend in October.

“The trip will be neat to see everything, but (the bus ride) up and back is what’s going to be priceless,” Hewitt said. “I love old people to death and these guys are old war veterans. Can you imagine the stories?”

Hewitt hopes to give them a few new ones, too.

Among those anticipating a ride Monday is Troy’s Marvin Bowman, a distant cousin of Hewitt. Bowman, 83, has already done the bus ride. Now he wants to see what Hewitt has to offer. He knows he won’t be disappointed if it’s anything like his Mission: Veterans to D.C. experience.

The cost per trip, for 50-plus veterans, is about $22,000 and includes a charter bus, two-night hotel stay and all meals. Traveling companions and volunteers pay their own way.

There’s even several mail calls with letters from grade-school classrooms passed out to the veterans and enough entertainment on the bus to prevent naps, according to Bowman, who served aboard the aircraft carrier USS Philippine Sea.

“My saying is they did everything but tuck us in and kiss us good night,” said Bowman, who served from 1943-53 “as a grease monkey who had the honor of keeping them all going” in a propeller-driven squadron.

“They bend over backwards. They don’t let us do a thing.”

For those a little timid about climbing into a sprint car with Hewitt, fear not. Hewitt offers leisurely laps around the track — as Devers did recently — or passengers can just tap his helmet and he’ll give the full Hewitt Experience that helped him win 76 career USAC features and a sweep of the 4-Crown Nationals at Eldora Speedway in 1998.

Hewitt, who spent two years in the Army in the surface-to-air missile program from 1971-72, tells the story of an older man who looked several shades more pale after his ride compared to when he strapped in.

As the story goes, Hewitt told the man to take his time catching his breath and should he have a heart attack Hewitt said he’d do everything he could — including jumping up and down on his chest — to revive him.

“But I told him there’s no way I’m giving you mouth-to-mouth,” Hewitt said, bringing the man to laughter.

Jon Coomer, a friend of Hewitt’s and a former sponsor with Aesthetic Finishers, took a ride during a media event on June 21 as a sponsor of Veterans to D.C.

“What a great cause,” said Coomer, whose grandfather Harry Heath was stationed in the Air Force in London during World War II. “When Jack and I were fishing in Florida and he told me about the deal with the veterans, I said by whatever means tell me what it costs and I’ll sponsor that.”

In addition to the Hewitt Experience, other sprint cars will be on hand and a car show will be held. Concessions will be available.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2400, ext. 6991, gbilling@DaytonDailyNews.com.