Children from the YMCA of Greater Richmond Surprised during First-Ever Speediatrics Fun Day Festival at Richmond Raceway
On Friday, July 28 at Richmond Raceway, The NASCAR Foundation and Toyota Racing surprised 136 children from the YMCA of Greater Richmond with brand new bicycles at the Speediatrics Fun Day Festival powered by Kaulig Giving. Additionally, Toyota Racing announced that tickets will be provided for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race for each child and a parent.
Corey Heim, driver of the No. 11 Toyota Tundra for TRICON Garage in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series, headlined the event, signing autographs and participating in the NASCAR-themed activities.
“We are excited to work with Richmond Raceway and the NASCAR Foundation to help impact the local community,” said Mike Pricer, Marketing Manager, Toyota Racing. “We have amazing team members in the Richmond-area and to see them give back by building over 100 bicycles has been incredible to watch. It was awesome to see the smiling faces on these kids, today, and hopefully, we will see more happiness this weekend as they take in their first NASCAR race.”
As part of the Speediatrics Fun Day Festival program, summer camp participants of the YMCA of Greater Richmond have been participated in a healthy living curriculum provided by The NASCAR Foundation, introducing them to NASCAR while encouraging them to adopt the same healthy habits employed by NASCAR drivers and pit crew members to see success on the race track.
“We appreciate our NASCAR Family who like Toyota Racing have a longstanding commitment to make an impact on our racing communities,” said Nichole Krieger, The NASCAR Foundation’s Vice President and Executive Director. “We are especially thankful for their time and talent in building bicycles for the kids. We know these bikes will get lots of miles on them this summer and help kids to lead a healthy lifestyle.”
Now in its seventh year, The NASCAR Foundation’s Speediatrics Fun Day Festival brings the sport of NASCAR to life for children ages 7 – 12 through a specialized curriculum and a NASCAR-themed at-track festival held during NASCAR race weekends in select markets each year. Over the past seven years, the Speediatrics Fun Day Festivals have reached more than 5,300 in racing communities across the county. The program is a part of the Foundation’s Speediatrics Children’s Fund, which supports needs expressed by hospitals, specialty clinics, camps and other organizations providing children’s medical and healthcare services.
