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This Shouldn’t Have Worked… But It Did

Nick Merrick, former U.S. Army Green Beret, founder of Green Beret Racing, tells their story to Vegas Veteran Voices, a Veteran-led nonprofit in Las Vegas.

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In this story
Nick Merrick, Former U.S. Army Green Beret, founder of Green Beret Racing
Service branch
U.S. Army
Organization
Green Beret Racing
Resources
Green Beret Racing: listed in our resource directory
Published
Running time
27 minutes (27:41)
Production
Filmed by Vegas Veteran Voices, a Veteran-led nonprofit in Las Vegas

“At the end of the day, waking up for something is way better than not going to bed for anything.”

Nick MerrickHear it at 10:55

About this story

This shouldn’t have worked… but it did.

At the Mint 400, one of the largest off-road races in North America, a Veteran-led team from Green Beret Racing built their cars in just three weeks… then watched everything start to break in the middle of the desert.

A steering failure mid-race should have ended it.
Instead, they improvised.

Using nothing but a cut-up energy drink can, duct tape, and pure problem-solving under pressure, they got the car moving again… and somehow finished in 2nd place.

This is what happens when military improvisation meets racing.
But this isn’t just about cars.

Nick Merrick, a former U.S. Army Green Beret, didn’t build Green Beret Racing just to race. He built it to solve a problem:

After leaving the military, many Veterans lose their sense of purpose, identity, and team. Instead of focusing on awareness, Nick built a system using competition, shared struggle, and community to give Veterans something real to show up for again.

Green Beret Racing is that system in action.

You hear it all the time:
“We don’t need suicide awareness… we need a plan.”
This is that plan.

Community. Camaraderie. Competition.
Something to wake up for.

Because at the end of the day:
Waking up for something is better than going to bed for nothing.

Learn more or get involved:
https://www.greenberetracing.org/

In their words

“I don’t care what you want to do. Just do something. So when life gets tough after this, you have a thing to look forward to.”

Nick MerrickHear it at 10:10

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