14 Jun 2026 Hands lifted, hearts moved

By Rita Halter Thomas

More than 70 hours into the Hands on a Hyundai competition at the 45th annual Toad Suck Daze festival, what started with 22 contestants had dwindled to four by Sunday evening, May 3. A few hours later, just two men remained: Jacob Smith of Conway and Jason Beck of Maumelle.

Festival noise had quieted. Vendors had packed up and cleared out. About 25 men from Renewal Ranch, who had been assisting with clean-up, thundered down Oak Street. They crossed the railroad tracks and ran in a group toward the only remaining tent. 

There, former contestants, family and friends gathered to support the two finalists, now standing side by side for the first time. Their gloved hands rested carefully on the hood of the grand prize, a 2026 Hyundai Santa Cruz, which they each hoped to win by being the last man standing.

The group from Renewal Ranch, a Christ-centered residential addiction recovery facility for men, chanted for Smith, “Ja-cob! Ja-cob! Ja-cob!” When the group bowed their heads and prayed for both men, something shifted. Something significant. Something unseen but felt. Emotions ran high. Tears fell, not from pain, but thankfulness.

Only moments before, the two finalists, strangers before the competition, realized the other had walked his own hard road of recovery: Smith at Renewal Ranch and Beck at Natural State Recovery. A connection was made. They began sharing about their recovery journey. They learned their stories were similar in many ways, different in others, but both with one common, powerful thread: Jesus.

After the men of Renewal Ranch prayed, Beck asked for the mic and addressed the crowd. He directed his comments to anyone struggling with addiction, drawing attention to the number of people under the tent who could help.

Then came the moment no one saw coming. After lasting 79.5 hours, Beck lifted his hands off the Hyundai, voluntarily conceding the contest. He walked to his wife, Sarah, gave her a hug, and told the sponsors, “I just wanted it to end happy.”

Having once lasted 93 hours and among the last standing without winning, Beck knew that heartbreak well. “At 80 hours, you’re not fully with it, but I know I was looking around and deciding how many people were going to be disappointed if he [Smith] didn’t win,” he said. He even encouraged his wife and their supporters to leave, but they didn’t. “I really wanted his people to have the moment,” he said. 

Before the event, Beck had expressed his hope to use his time in the competition to spread the word of Jesus and recovery. He confessed that, toward the end, he’d begun to feel bad that he’d not done that like he’d hoped, unaware of what would transpire.

What happened next reflects how deeply the moment moved those who witnessed it. Fellow contestant Tom Brawley, who had stood next to Beck for 43 hours before his departure, launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise money so Beck could buy a car, if that’s what he wanted or needed. “I knew what he did. It was a decision on his part to basically say, ‘It’s not worth it. I want him to have it,’” he said.

Brawley immediately felt the need to act, not for acknowledgment, but to do something because of what one man was willing to do for another. He launched the fundraising campaign, giving the community a tangible opportunity to respond to what they had witnessed (or would hear about) and to honor what he had seen unfold between two Christian men. Word spread quickly, and donations reached ^$11,000 within a week. The platform’s listed goal automatically increases incrementally until the final goal of ^$35,000 is reached.

Beck and his wife, Sarah, have been overwhelmed by the community’s response. “I’m blown away and grateful. It will definitely help my family,” Beck said, who isn’t used to the spotlight. He offered his congratulations to Smith and said he never wanted to draw attention to himself, stating that Smith earned the Hyundai. “Even if I could have stood there another 50 hours, he still may have beat me, so he earned it.”

When the prizes were awarded on the Tuesday following the event, Brett Berry, general manager of Chris Crain Hyundai, said most don’t realize the bonds that are built and the connections made among the contestants. “In the end, if you don’t believe you can have church on a Sunday night underneath a tent at the end of Toad Suck Daze, then you weren’t there. It was a powerful moment and a powerful ending.”

“It’s been a recovery story we didn’t see coming,” said Lori Melton, senior vice president for First Community Bank, which partnered with Chris Crain Hyundai to bring this beloved event back to Toad Suck Daze. Recalling from her previous experience with a similar event, Melton explained that the outcome is never certain, regardless of what one observes about each remaining contestant. Crazy things can happen in those final hours when exhaustion and sleep deprivation take their toll. The one thing they always hope, as sponsors of the event, is that the competition is fun, friendly, about family and community, and is about doing for others.

It was, and more. This year’s outcome is having a ripple effect that no one could have anticipated. More than 200 people have donated to the GoFundMe campaign. Melton said an 85-year-old retired businessman from Fort Smith was so moved that he wanted to pay the sales tax on Smith’s vehicle. Beck’s gesture fulfills Step 12 of recovery (paying it forward) and has led to invitations to speak at several upcoming Natural State Recovery events.

A reflection of his humble and quiet personality, Smith declined to be interviewed, wishing to keep the spotlight on the redemptive power of Jesus Christ, emphasizing that without a relationship with Jesus, nothing else matters.

Indeed. The full power of a prayer and the testimonies of two men under a tent may never be known. But one common thread ties it all together. Jesus seems to have used Hands on a Hyundai as a mechanism to move hearts.