Ride for the Victory-Kansas City, Kansas

Prior to the ride, I asked Victory Junction Midwest C.E.O. Mike Lepore for his thoughts on C.A.R.B. and the Ride for the Victory. He said, “We are so appreciative of the Central Auto Racing Boosters and all they are doing for Victory Junction. We started working with them last year. They had heard in the media that we were coming to build a second Victory Junction in the Kansas City area. Adam Petty had raced out here in the Midwest quite a bit. He won his first race near here, I believe at Lakeside Speedway or I-70. A lot of the C.A.R.B. folks knew Adam, so there was an instant connection between this racing community and the Petty family. C.A.R.B. was anxious to put on some events and support our cause, and this Ride for the Victory is a big one. They have put several months of preparation into it. Carrie Woodson has done an incredible job! We have great weather and a great turnout of cars and motorcycles, and we really appreciate what they do, because it takes $2,500 to send a camper to the camp. They have already been very generous, and they are going to be helping kids to have a once-in-a-lifetime experience at this camp. We plan to be open in the summer of 2011, but we can’t wait until that happens. In the meantime we are actually bringing some campers from Kansas City to our camp in North Carolina. I will be flying out with seven youngsters on June 21 to go to camp. Until we get open here we will continue to bring kids from Kansas City to North Carolina. When we are open here, we will really be able to serve kids with chronic medical problems right here in the Midwest so they don’t have to travel quite so far. C.A.R.B. is a great organization. J.D. Green, Rodney Hawkins, Skip Richardson, Carrie Woodson, Diana Green, and others have done so much work for us. They are doing all of this for a camp that hasn’t even been built yet. We love these folks! We’re just so grateful. I look forward to this being an annual thing and look forward to being able to ride with everyone. The whole motorcycle thing is big with the Pettys. Kyle just rode his motorcycle from North Carolina up to Pocono where he’s part of the Turner broadcast team for the NASCAR races. As you know, we do the annual Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America. It was good to have the ride stop here for the groundbreaking . That’s a great group of people, and that ride is our biggest individual contributor. In addition to the camp, they have built a unique state of the art water park in North Carolina, and will be building one here as well. Our thanks go out to all of everyone who participated and helped with this ride.”

Next, I caught up with C.A.R.B. president J.D. Green and asked about his organization’s involvement with Victory Junction and the ride. His comments were, “We have meetings during the off-racing season. At our meeting in March 2008, when it was time to discuss new business, Skip and Carrie stood up and suggested that we hold a charity ride. Then in September, Kyle Petty announced that the Midwest Victory Junction Camp would be located in Kansas City. As a racing organization supporting several local tracks, we decided to tie racing with racing. Skip and Carrie volunteered to head this thing up, and Carrie came up with the slogan, “One racing family helping another.” That’s a great theme. It’s been exciting to watch this thing grow. I tell everybody I’m a lazy president. I delegate, sit back, and watch everybody work. Skip and Carrie have done a wonderful job, and several members of C.A.R.B.’s board of directors have stepped forward. Everybody does their piece, and this is the fruition today. Has it taken a lot of work? Yes it has, and it has all been worth it. It takes a lot of volunteers to make it happen. The day we put the bags together, there were 15 people from C.A.R.B. there and 15 people we had never met before, but they all wanted to help the Victory Junction kids. It’s neat to see all of these people working together for a great cause. I’d like to really thank the four tracks--Lakeside, I-35, Valley, and Central Missouri Speedway--because they gave free admission tickets to their tracks. When you get your bag, there’s a $65 value right there. That’s another way racing is tied to the Victory Junction Camps. This has been our most sponsored event. We have had a bunch of great sponsors who have helped. Our volunteers have been super. We hope everyone will consider joining C.A.R.B. Membership is only $10 per year. There are lots of great benefits for racing fans.”

The Ride for the Victory originated at the General Motors Fairfax Assembly Plant in Kansas City, Kansas. With a huge parking area, wide streets, and very little Sunday traffic, the location worked out very well. The pre-ride program began with Mayor Joe Reardon welcoming the participants. Next, Mike Lepore thanked the riders for their support. J.D. Green and Carrie Woodson also added their thanks to the ride volunteers, participants, and sponsors.

The four-wheeled vehicles hit the road first, with a police escort and a new Silverado from McCarthy Chevrolet in the lead. Fifteen minutes later, again with a police escort, the motorcycles headed out. Carrie was aboard the lead bike, riding behind her co-chair and fiancé, Skip Richardson. During the ride, participants had the opportunity to participate in a “visual scavenger hunt” by locating seven items from a list. Those who were successful in identifying at least five of the items were entered into a drawing for 10 pairs of suite tickets at Lakeside Speedway.

The route featured scenic Kansas countryside and hilly, curvy roads. There was a mid-ride stop at the Slow Ride Road House Bar & Grill in Lawrence. When the participants returned to GM Fairfax, they enjoyed a lunch of hot dogs, chips, and cookies with soft drinks, energy drinks, or water to wash it down. “The Secrets” provided musical entertainment. Several really nice items had been donated for the silent auction, and raffle tickets were sold for a chance to win a Harley-Davidson swing provided by Buz’s Muffler. Everyone who participated in the scavenger hunt received a commerative Ride for the Victory koozie compliments of Worth Harley-Davidson North . The event concluded with prize drawings at 3:45. Event organizers have already started planning the Second Annual Ride for the Victory, promising to make it even bigger and better. A big “Thank you!” goes out to everyone who took part in the ride as participants, volunteers, or sponsors. C.A.R.B. lists the following businesses and individuals for special recognition:

American Family Insurance
American Truck Sales
Apple Market Stores
Bakers Tow
Beer Thirty
BHR Enterprise
Blue Chip Cookies
Blue Skyz Enterprises
Board of Public Utilities
Buz's Muffler Cabela's
Central Missouri Speedway
Central States Beverage
Cheeseburger in Paradise
Culver's
CycleConnections.com - Online Motorcycle Magazine
David Mann Art
Deb's Disposal
Deffenbaugh Inc.
Don's Printing
Dub's Dread Golf Club Fathead & Braindeads
Frankie D's
GM Assembly Plant
Gold Canyon Candle
Hoooters @ the Legends
I-35 Speedway
Image Photography
Jazz, a Louisiana Kitchen
Kansas Speedway
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts#195
Lakeside Speedway
Leah Clayton
Legends of KC, LP
Lockton Companies
Marriott Hotels & Resorts
McCarthy Auto Group
Midwest Distributors
Mission Bowl
MLRA Racing Series
MotorCycle Parts R Us
NAPA
Neighbors Who Care
North AMF Pro Bowl
North KC Beverage
Novak Chiropractic Clinic, P.A.
On the Border Mexican Grill & Cantina
Operation Lifesaver - Kansas
Paul Woodson
River City T's
RockAuto, LLC
Rodney & Kathy Hawkins
Seeburg Mufflers
Simpson Cycles
T-Bones Baseball Club, LLC
The Hair Fix
The Secrets
TLC Designs
Transport Truck Sales
Valley Speedway
Victory Junction
Worth Harley-Davidson North

Story and photos by Stripe