Bowyer drives for donation
Randy Covitz, The Kansas City Star
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
DOVER, Del. — NASCAR drivers Carl Edwards and Clint Bowyer will contest a race within a race when they compete in next Sunday’s Price Chopper 400 Sprint Cup race at Kansas Speedway.
Sprint announced on Saturday a Stateline Challenge between Edwards, of Columbia, and Bowyer, of Emporia. Sprint will present a check for $100,000 to Victory Junction Midwest in the name of the driver who finishes higher in the race. A $25,000 donation will be made in honor of the other driver.
All proceeds from the race will help fund construction efforts for Victory Junction, a year-round camp for chronically ill children. The $35 million facility will be built on 71 acres in Wyandotte County. Both Edwards and Bowyer have run successfully at Kansas Speedway. Edwards finished second to Jimmie Johnson in last year’s Cup race and won the 2004 trucks series race. Bowyer finished second in a controversial finish in the 2007 Sprint Cup race at Kansas Speedway and was 12th last year.
“A win at Kansas Speedway, my home track, would be a huge victory for me,” said Edwards. “I used to drive by it on Interstate 70 and dream about racing there. That first trucks win was one of the highlights of my racing career. Kansas is special because of the fans and the location being so close to home.”
“I’ve been pretty fortunate to have run well at Kansas Speedway over the last few years,” Bowyer said. “Winning there would be incredible. I think every driver would like to win the Daytona 500 because of how big that race is and all the prestige that’s behind it, but a win at Kansas, for me, would be right up there, almost on the same level.”
Victory Junction hosted a ceremonial groundbreaking last May and is in the midst of fundraising before beginning construction next year on the project. The facility is free to children ages 6 to 16 with chronic medical conditions or serious illnesses. The original camp was founded in Randleman, N.C., by NASCAR’s Kyle and Pattie Petty in honor of their son Adam, who was killed in a racing accident in 2000, and the Pettys chose Wyandotte County for the second camp.
As a not-for-profit organization, the camp operates solely through the support of donors.
“We are thrilled to have the ongoing support of Sprint in our efforts to offer medically safe, life-changing experiences to kids with chronic illnesses who live throughout the Midwest,” said Mike Lepore, president of Victory Junction Camp. “Our thanks also go out to Clint and Carl for their longstanding and consistent support of Victory Junction.”
justthinkin (anonymous) says...
This is wonderful - Thanks NASCAR, Clint & Carl.... just another reason to be excited about next weekends race.
September 29, 2009 at 12:01 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
oh4theluvof (anonymous) says...
What's NASCAR???
September 29, 2009 at 3:07 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Joe_Strummer (anonymous) says...
Several hours of left turns at high speed.
September 30, 2009 at 2:14 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
oh4theluvof (anonymous) says...
ahhhh, thank you.................and just to see if I have this straight, justthinkin was already excited about that before this donation news??????
September 30, 2009 at 3:20 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
justthinkin (anonymous) says...
Absolutely - I never would have dreamed I would become a race fan or even enjoy watching a race on TV.... But, through Clint Bowyer I became not only interested, but an enthusiast. Some people like NFL, I like NASCAR. The fact that participating drivers - Clint Bowyer & Carl Edwards in this example can lead to charitable donations to a good cause is just another reason to enjoy the sport. Try it, you might enjoy it as well.
September 30, 2009 at 5:41 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
oh4theluvof (anonymous) says...
Hmmmmm...............hours was it????? My attention span might be good for about ten minutes of it but even that would be pushing it. Maybe if I was actually driving, it might hold my attention, but even then, I bet I'd turn right just to change things up a bit.
I'm glad for the charitable spirit from these guys, but I'm afraid that not even that could make me enjoy something so mind-numbing. Enjoy your hours of left turns!!!
September 30, 2009 at 8:59 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
seriouslyfolks (anonymous) says...
What is the carbon footprint of NASCAR? It has to be pretty big. The cars themselves are not fuel efficient I'm sure and they have busses and big trucks that hall the cars and crew all over the country. Shame, shame, shame.
Speaking of carbon footprints. Is the gazette's carbon footprint bigger or smaller now that they print their little fluff articles on dead trees in Lawrence and truck them here 6 days a week in those big fosil fuel burning earth killers?
R.
September 30, 2009 at 9:36 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
neighbor (anonymous) says...
I too was not much of a Nascar fan until Clint got the call and started watching to see how he was doing. It's much more than going fast and turning left, you have to be smart enough to recognize the other factors that determine the race winner. It's much more than the fastest car winning the race. Throw in the bump drafts, poor tire quality, poor pit stops, and the occasional intentional push into the wall, and things get wild. I'm making three trips to KC this week, going tonight to see Clint in person.
October 1, 2009 at 10:28 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
seriouslyfolks (anonymous) says...
Every time I see some NASCAR paraphernalia I swear I can feel the globe warming.
R.
October 1, 2009 at 10:38 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
oh4theluvof (anonymous) says...
"..........you have to be smart enough to recognize ..........."
Are you saying I am too dumb for NASCAR??????????
That wasn't very positive of you...not very positive a'tall :-(
October 1, 2009 at 2:16 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )