Yao Ming was at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on Sunday as part of a promotion with Coca-Cola. However, his mind was clearly with the people of his home country when he led the crowed in a moment of silence before the Coca-Cola 600. As reported by ESPN:

“We are very sad for the people we have lost in the earthquake,” Yao said. “We have a long way to go to create a new place for the people who don’t have a place to stay right now.”

Yao has donated $290,000 to the relief efforts and has filmed a public service announcement through the Red Cross.

“The best thing you can do for the government is to send money there and people there to help them,” Yao said. “But we also need to warm them. They’re hurt mentally by the earthquake. I heard some kids cannot sleep in the middle of the night because they’re scared. Any kind of help – it’s more than just the money.”

A friend who lives in the central providence of Sichuan called Yao three days after the 7.9 quake hit to say he was OK.

“It’s really sad there,” Yao said. “His city is affected, but not major damage. But after a couple of minutes he said, ‘I’ve got to go. The house is shaking again.’”

The Houston Rockets All-Star center checks his computer daily to keep himself updated on the latest from the devastation in China.

Several aftershocks have damaged homes and injured civilians over the last few days. The official death toll rose to 67,183 on Tuesday. However, 20,790 people were listed as missing. Nearly 362,000 people have been injured as a result of the massive quake.

This catastrophic disaster has caused people to temporarily forget about the upcoming Olympics in China this summer.

“No. 1 right now is to save people’s lives,” Yao said. “On May 12 people forgot about the Olympics. People forgot about the torch. Let’s focus the government and the people on saving as many lives as we can.”

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Nick Kappel is a staff member for the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey.

He can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network's Author Profiles