RICHMOND, Va. — The imposing Super Cobra and Huey helicopters were only part of race weekend attractions at the Marines interactive exhibit on the midway at Richmond International Raceway.

Shannon Johnson, 21, from Apex, N.C., is gathering plenty of attention — much from similar-aged men — as she battles to keep her head above the chin-up bar for 70 seconds, the time required to earn a free T-shirt.

"They've got to earn it. We don't give them away," says Marine Gunnery Sgt. Curtis Eaton, an area recruiter.

Hours before NASCAR's roaring machines lit up the track, Johnson became part of the show that the U.S. military relies on to create awareness and lure numbers to its enlisted ranks.

It's part of the marriage between NASCAR and the armed forces, a union fueled by the common denominators of testosterone, petroleum and speed-driven excitement.

"It kind of surprises me. I didn't know the Marines would be out here," Johnson says. "I figured there'd just be race cars, drivers — that kind of stuff. But think of the guys who come here — young guys that might not have any idea what they want to do in life. It's definitely a good crowd of people for the military to be promoting to."

That's what the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard and National Guard think, too.

It's why Lt. Gen. Robert Van Antwerp, commanding general of the Army's Accessions Command — in charge of enlisted recruiting, ROTC and initial military training — says the Army budgets about $17 million to grace the hood of Joe Nemechek's Monte Carlo and pay for the other initiatives involved in supporting a Nextel Cup sponsorship.

"NASCAR is very important to us, as is all of our event marketing," Van Antwerp says. "Our mission for our three components — Army active, the Guard and the Army Reserve — is 175,500 young people this year to recruit into the enlisted ranks.

"We think we're going to make it this year. It's because of venues like this but also because there is a patriotic group out there and we're finding them."

Jeff Priest, the U.S. Navy Motorsports Program manager, agrees that NASCAR delivers the military's target audience.

"In my opinion, it's the most patriotic fan base of any sport," he says.

According to Priest, the Navy is spending about $5 million a year to partner with Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s JR Motorsports to field the Busch Series car driven by rookie Mark McFarland.

Like the Marines and the Navy, the Army and Air Force have impressive exhibits amid the souvenir trailers and concession stands that pack the NASCAR midway.

"There are a lot of mechanically and electronically inclined individuals here, the kind of individuals the Air Force is interested in recruiting," says Scott Campbell, public affairs representative for the 317th Recruiting Squadron responsible for the Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., area.

More than any other NASCAR driver, Nemechek has become synonymous with the military.

"I take a lot of pride in driving the U.S. Army Chevrolet," says the driver affectionately known as "G.I. Joe," who took over the No. 01 Army car after driver Jerry Nadeau was injured in 2003.

This year the Coast Guard went with Kevin Harvick, a move that has paid huge dividends in exposure as Harvick's No. 21 Chevrolet has emerged as the best in Busch.

Harvick is also in position to make the cut for the Nextel Cup Chase.

"We made a great pick," says Todd Prestidge, the Coast Guard program manager who is heading back to sea this month as the captain of the 210-foot Resolute out of St. Petersburg, Fla.

"Somebody asked me the other day, 'How did you know?' I said, 'If you have the opportunity to go with a quality organization like RCR (Richard Childress Racing) and great drivers like Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton, we would have been fools not to go with them.' "

Greg Biffle, who won his race at Darlington Raceway in the National Guard Ford, has been in the seat of an F-16 and in an Abrams tank, shooting its big gun during drills in Utah. The experiences have given him new appreciation of what military people go through.

And McFarland makes it a point after his general autograph sessions to spend extra time with Navy personnel.

"All the people we've met in the last two or three months have changed my life," he says. "I think a lot more about what's going on overseas, the people defending you. It makes you real proud every time you hit the track."