Racing For Kids® gets back on track with two special kick off events, part of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Pete – the season opening race of the 2024 NTT INDYCAR Series. First up on Thursday, March 7, Racing For Kids will bring AJ Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci and Sting Ray Robb to Johns […]
Racing For Kids® faced an unusual challenge Thursday in its annual visit to Santa Rosa’s North Valley School: the program would have to be conducted without racecar drivers present.
The reason was understandable: with so much riding on Sunday’s GoPro Grand Prix – the series championship and driver contracts for 2018 –executives from The Sonoma Raceway and The Verizon INDYCAR Series scheduled a free practice day for Thursday. That meant drivers were not available to visit The North Valley School.
A back up plan was quickly drafted. There is no question IndyCar drivers, who initially committed to the Santa Rosa visit, would be missed — after all they are the stars of the IndyCar Series.
But with the ABC Supply, Inc., show car heading to the non-pubic school in Santa Rosa, the Racing For Kids Team turned the event into a tutorial on IndyCar Racing. That tutorial featured a discussion of the sleek machines which will race Sunday at The Sonoma Raceway as well as the new style Indy Cars, which will make their debut next season.
The students quickly warmed to the new program format and had a plethora of well-informed technical questions for RKF Executive Director Pat Wright and Pete Garcia, who manages the ABC Supply, Inc. show car program.
Their many questions were followed up with each student taking turns sitting in the ABC Supply Inc. show car, posing for pictures and donning their colorful Racing For Kid baseball caps.
Assisting the program, handing out hats and collectible racing stickers were TranSystems Inc. representatives, Rebecca Valdez and Lynne Marie Whately. TranSystems, Inc., based in Kansas City, MO has been a major backer of Racing For Kids since 2004.
The morning program was capped with Pat Wright and Debby Wright, Racing For Kids COO, presenting North Valley School Principle, Jennifer Lux, with a $1000 check to underwrite the purchase of playground equipment for the highly regarded school.
“Thanks. This was a great program,” several students offered as the Racing For Kids Team finished their impromptu, but successful program and headed to the track.
Several students said they were going to wear their new hats to the Sunday GoPro Grand Prix race while others promised they’d be glued to NBCSports for 3:30 PM (PDT) race, which will decide the 2017 Verizon INDYCAR Champion.
