Friday is a quiet day at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but many within the garage took an early wake-up call for a good cause.

Organized by Jimmie Johnson, a 69-mile bike ride began shortly after 7 a.m. at Mint Hill Veterans Park just outside Charlotte. It was held to honor 2006 MotoGP world champion Nicky Hayden, who died earlier this week after being struck by a car while cycling in Italy.

Approximately 75 riders came out for the event which began and ended at the park. The casual pace saw the ride take 3 hours, 38 minutes to complete.

“There’s a big group of us that train and ride often, and Josh Strang is a motocross racer … and it was his idea to get together and ride 69 miles for Nicky,” Johnson said before the ride began.

“Josh typically wants to keep things small and controlled, and then once it got into my head, I, of course, wanted to blow it out and make it bigger and that’s why we have a parking lot full of cars. It was really Josh’s idea and I’ve expanded it quite a bit.”

The assembled group was a mix of drivers and crew members, including Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kasey Kahne and Chase Elliott, Elliott’s crew chief Alan Gustafson, Matt Kenseth and his crew chief Jason Ratcliff, Daniel Suarez and Jamie McMurray.

Others in attendance included avid cyclists and professional motorsports racers. Retired road racing cyclist Christian Vanderbilt, who competed in the Tour de France, also joined in.

Having started his career racing motorcycles, Johnson continued to follow the sport as he settled into the stock car world. Hayden rose to prominence and became a superstar in Europe, which culminated with a championship in 2006, and was one of the drivers Johnson rooted for.

In recent years, the two became quite friendly.

“We would text; we would harass each other on social [media],” Johnson said. “He came to the Indy race (recently), he had a wrist injury and was just there hanging out and watching. But I was definitely a fan and only had a couple opportunities to meet him face to face, but we definitely knew each other.”

Born in Owensboro, Kentucky, Hayden was dubbed “The Kentucky Kid,” but instead of going into NASCAR, like others from the Southeast, he followed in the footsteps of his father, Earl, to motorcycles, first on dirt.

“I loved watching him because my dad raced flat track motorcycles,” Johnson said. “As a kid growing up, I’ve always paid attention to that scene, and that’s what Nicky started off doing at a very young age. Then to take those skills from the dirt to the asphalt, do so well, go to the world stage in MotoGP, win the world championship, we don’t have many racers that leave here and represent us worldwide.

“So, there’s a few different pieces to (why he was enjoyable to watch). The flat track side, representing us abroad, and then once you met him and spent any time around him, he and his family were just racers, through and through, and there’s a respect I have for that and I think a respect anyone in motorsports saw and understood.”

Hayden, 35, was struck last Wednesday while riding his bike on the Rimini coast. He suffered severe cerebral damage and multiple traumatic injuries before succumbing to those injuries five days later. The motorsports world has share memories and tributes since, with Johnson even placing a decal on his No. 48 Chevrolet.

Before riding off, socks with a 69 printed on them were handed out, a prayer sent, and words shared about recreational bicycle riding. While Johnson knows the dangers that come with riding, he was still shocked to hear of Hayden’s accident.

“From an injury standpoint, I thought in the near future you’d see somebody – it’s easy to fall on the bikes, wet road or whatever, and you can break a wrist or a shoulder,” Johnson said. “But to have someone’s life taken, and granted it was in Italy and I don’t even know exactly the circumstances and how it happened, but to know that a fellow racer was killed on a bicycle, it hits home. We see and read tragedies that happen here in the States; it’s a tough environment out there.

“Bikes are intended to ride on the road with motorists; there’s always a conflict between motorists and cyclists, and I think cyclists really need to take the first step and obey traffic laws, ride smart. But at the same time, motorists need to understand the bikes are not supposed to ride on sidewalks, it’s not the law; we share the road.

“Thirty seconds you might lose (being behind them), isn’t worth someone’s life that’s on the bike. I think we can all coexist better on the roads, but today, honestly, is more about honoring Nicky and the cycling community here in the Charlotte area and then the greater motorsports community in the Charlotte area just want to ride and honor him.”