For one frustrating moment, Dee Snider couldn't get the engine on the custom Orange County Chopper to turn over.
NASCAR fans pressed their faces and cameras against JR Motorsports' truck bay windows on Wednesday to catch a glimpse of Snider, the lead singer of Twisted Sister, known for their 1980s hair-metal hits "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock."
But soon after he sat on the bike and jiggled the keys in the ignition, a loud "vroom!" pealed through the bay and the chopper roared to life.
With cameras in tow, Snider made an appearance at Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Mooresville race shop to shoot a public service announcement for the March of Dimes Bikers for Babies nationwide raffle of Earnhardt's custom motorcycle. Earnhardt's Dale Jr. Foundation donated the bike, which was a gift from Sunoco.
"We are both rock stars," said Snider, a motorcyle enthusiast and national spokesman of March of Dimes Bikers for Babies.
The raffle is expected to raise more than $500,000 for the nonprofit, said Bob Aglione, national director of communications for the March of Dimes.
The charitable organization, which promotes the birth of healthy babies, has various associations and has worked with many celebrities in the past to raise money. The motorcycle raffle, however, is a first, Aglione said.
Snider and Earnhardt started talking about charity work shortly after they met at the 2008 Sturgis Bike Rally in Sturgis, S.D. Earnhardt said he told Snider he wanted to help the March of Dimes in some capacity.
"I knew we had this bike that we'd done a couple of things with," Earnhardt said.
Snider said he has heard a lot of people offer to donate to March of Dimes, but rarely do they ever follow through, he said.
March of Dimes Foothills Division Chairman Frederick C. Galle III said that from a fundraising standpoint, the donation was overwhelming.
The additional donations will be particularly helpful during a year in which donations are down 30 percent in the 16-county region, Galle said.
"I'm buying five tickets right now, as a matter of fact," Galle said.
The Bikers for Babies events are the fastest-growing fundraisers for the March of Dimes, Snider said.
Earnhardt's chopper will be displayed at various Bikers for Babies events nationwide this year and be raffled off at $20 a ticket.
Snider said bikers are some of the most generous people he has ever met.
"They are there at a moment's notice to help children," he said. "Everyone's heart goes out to a kid and Dale's heart was in the right place."
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