By Chris Murray
For the Philadelphia Sunday SUN
(Photos: Webster Riddick)
Fairmount Park’s Please Touch Museum took on the atmosphere of a motorsport raceway during a NASCAR or Formula One Grand Prix race last Friday when the Urban Youth Racing School held its annual Grand Prix.
Co-hosted by WDAS’s Patty Jackson and Kim Coons, NASCAR commentator for NBC Sports, local politicians and media professionals talked trash with each other and rubbed shoulders with NASCAR drivers like Kyle Larson before taking to the track to get their motors running at the annual Grand Prix, which is a fundraiser to help the Urban Youth Racing School continue its mission of connecting inner city youth with all aspects of motorsports.
For the last 24 years, Anthony and Michelle Martin have used UYRS to introduce inner city youth to all aspects of motorsports from learning how to drive fast cars around a track to understanding the engineering and science of racing.
Since opening the school in 1998, 7,700 students have come through the doors of UYRS and have excelled both in and out of the auto racing industry. To keep the program free to the mostly Black and Latino students from low-income and working-class families who attend, fundraisers like the Grand Prix are important, Anthony Martin said.
“Do you know how much money they would have to pay if they had to pay to be a part of our program?” he said. “We have to have events like this so our kids can keep coming to our program for free. So, it’s absolutely major to have all the racing world to come out and support our program.”
NASCAR President Steve Phelps joined 13 drivers including City Council president Darrell Clarke, Councilmembers Cindy Bass and Isaiah Thomas, State Sens. Anthony Williams and Sharif Street and House Minority Whip Jordan Harris in racing Grand Prix-style go carts around the track.
The politicos and media personalities, coached by champion NASCAR drivers like Larson and Poconos 500 Chase Elliot, raced each other in go-carts around a Grand Prix style that had its share of twists and turns.
“It’s been an awesome turnout and great to have all the drivers from Chevrolet and Cole Custer from Stewart-Hass racing to come out here and support Anthony and Michelle and what they’ve built with their (Urban) Youth Racing School and trying to get a lot more people to get interested in racing and to support people who’ve supported me so much,” said Larson, who won the NASCAR Cup Series championship in 2021.
While racing is the big attraction to the young people who participate in the program, 99% of the students, who range in age from 6-17, who participate in the UYRS, not only finish high school but also go on to receive their college degrees, mostly in the STEM fields.
A lot of former UYRS participants have worked in NASCAR for various teams and in various capacities including mechanics and corporate managers, Martin said.
“It’s really about the education,” he said. “It’s really about kids being able to pursue careers in engineering and sciences as technicians. There’s nothing more technical than motorsports. I’ve got news for you. You can be a great driver, but if you don’t have a great mechanic, a great crew chief, great tire changers, you’re not going to be successful in the sport.”
One UYRS graduate, Jason Simmons, currently serves as NASCAR’s senior manager of International Operations and Strategy.
But Martin still hopes for the day that a young graduate from the UYRS program will be a driver on the NASCAR circuit and for that any other racing circuit whether you are talking IndyCar or Formula One.
If anything, Martin has probably done more in the effort to bring diversity to the racing circuit in NASCAR that is wildly popular in the South and is almost exclusively white except for Bubba Wallace, the lone Black driver in NASCAR’s Cup Series. The first Black driver for NASCAR was Wendell Scott.
Over the years, Martin has developed several partnerships with several companies related to auto racing including Chevrolet and NASCAR. Steve Phelps, the president of NASCAR, who was among the attendees at the UYRS Grand Prix last week, said supporting the Martins and the UYRS is a part of NASCAR’s diversity efforts.
“Seeing all these people come out, the kids, NASCAR Drivers, it’s a cool atmosphere, but importantly, it’s our relationship with (UYRS) and what it means,” Phelps said. “This is one of our many efforts at diversity, equity, and inclusion. Anthony (Martin) has been a great friend of the sport and obviously, the passion that he and Michelle have for the school and the kids are palpable. When you go to the school, you feel it (at the Grand Prix) they put their heart and soul into it.”
The city and state officials who tried to show their driving skills in the go-carts that the UYRS participants to learn the sport of racing all talked about the importance of the school for the city’s youth. Clarke said the biggest contribution that the UYRS has made to the youth of Philadelphia is an opportunity to pursue one of America’s fastest-growing sports.
“What I’d like to say is one word—options,” Clarke said. “It gives young people options. The bottom line is too frequently there are not a lot of opportunities that are not traditional sports. Everybody thinks that young African Americans and communities of color should play basketball or football. But the reality is NASCAR is probably the second-most watched sport in the country. We need to get our children involved. I appreciate NASCAR and General Motors for supporting the Urban Youth Racing School for getting kids involved in the sport.”
Of course, the biggest obstacle for African Americans and other drivers of color is having enough funding to participate in the sport. But when you drive around the city, you might notice bands of Black and Latino kids speeding up Broad Street riding three and four-wheel motorbikes popping wheelies to the point of annoyance and sometimes at the expense of public safety.
Clarke said the city is looking to construct an indoor go-cart facility similar to the indoor go-kart in Cinnaminson, N.J. and in Atlantic City to give young people who like to race their vehicles in the street the opportunity to channel that energy into a learning a sport that could be lucrative for them in a variety of ways.
“We should have one in Philadelphia,” Clarke said. “We believe that we have identified a site and we’re going to raise the necessary capital to do it.”
But another way of looking at it is that like their counterparts in rural areas of the South, they have a love for driving fast vehicles and, who knows, there might be a new pool of talent that NASCAR and other racing circuits could tap into in the near future.
“I’m sure you got some kids that could drive in NASCAR or drive in any series big time right here in the city, but again it’s about exposure and being part of the sport,” Martin said. “NASCAR is making a conscious effort to get more folks of color in the sport. It shows their commitment.”
If you are interested in getting your child involved in the Urban Youth Racing School, go to: https://uyrs.com/ for more information.
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