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More Than a Crash Course
Members of the Urban Youth Racing School go for a spin at G-Force Karts near Richmond International Speedway. Founded in 1998 in Philadelphia, there is now a second school in Washington.
(The Post)
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Once the course ends, select students are given a chance to continue in the racing school, either in the engine design or team development programs. Engine design students concentrate on mechanical work, while team development students focus on driving and the roles of race-day crew members.
"For the engine design class, we try to get them internships in the racing industry, and we try to get drivers seat time out on the track," said Andrew Garland, director of team development. "They need to know the lingo and what's going on around them, so they can be in their element on the track and in the shop."
Reggie James knows the lingo, and he is hoping for a crack at one of those internships as well. It's been quite a change for a 14-year-old who had to be persuaded to try the youth racing program.
James said one of his friends told him racing was fun, and James responded with a yawn. He wondered how driving around in circles could be exciting.
Two years later, James wonders no more, and now thinks ahead to the possibilities the sport might offer him. He hears that NASCAR funds a college scholarship for select students from the program, and a mechanical engineering degree sounds enticing.
"I wasn't interested in racing until I came here," said James, who will be a freshman at Centreville High this fall. "I don't compete; I just have fun."
Tell that to Crossland. By the end of the day, he and James were engaged in a friendly debate over who was the better driver. It was the type of conversation Martin dreamed would take place at his schools -- two black kids comparing their skills on the racetrack.
But the Urban Youth Racing School is meant to serve kids' interests in all aspects of racing. If they want to build engines, be a member of a pit crew or sell the sport to other aspiring youths, the school is designed to show the way. If they decide racing is not for them, the school teaches skills that translate into other areas.
So whether Crossland or James ends up being involved in racing at all is almost irrelevant.
"We don't know what discipline these kids are going to go into," Portia Deal said, "but they're going to have a choice, because we're going to give them options."
