Urban Youth Racing School Transforms Lives

Carrillo, Karen The NAACP Crisis magazine

Seven years ago, Shawnna Jenkins mother enrolled her - along with her younger brother, Dwan - in classes at the Urban Youth Racing School (UYRS) in Philadelphia, after seeing a story about the program on the local news.

“I couldn’t believe it when she told us she signed us up,” the 19-year-old recalls. “Racing to me was pretty boring: Every time you see it on TV it just looks like cars going ’round in circles.”

But today Shawnna gets excited when she talks about auto racing. In fact, the communications major at the Community College of Philadelphia wants to be a racing broadcaster.

Founded in 1998 by Anthony Martin, the mission of UYRS is to expose African American youngsters between the ages of 8 and 18 to the automotive and motorsports industry. For the most part, the industry has remained a White, Southern sport. Martin wants to change that.

“The motorsports world is a multibillion-dollar industry and if you look at the industry, there are very, very few African Americans who are part of the industry,” says Martin.

UYRS’10-week “Build A Dream” and yearlong “Driver/Team Development” programs combine classroom lessons and racetrack experience. More than 1,100 students have gone through the school - free of charge. Their tuition, which costs between $4,000 and $5,000 per child, is paid for by a number of sponsors including NASCAR, General Motors and Sprint/Nextel.

The goal of UYRS, says Martin, is to integrate the intricacies of racing with education by reinforcing math, science, technology, literacy, business and marketing skills.

Martin admits that most kids come into the program primarily to have fun racing and driving go-karts. But before they can touch the wheel, they have to go through five weeks of classroom training. They leave with a whole new set of skills and a new outlook on life.

“We get them in here, sit them down in a controlled environment and say ‘Hey, listen, did you know you could change tires for a racing team and make $100,000 a year? Did you know you could be an engineer for a racing team and make $250,000 a year? Did you know you could be the chassis guy for a racing team? Did you know you could be an engine guy for a racing team and make $300,000? Did you know you could be the crew chief for a racing team?’” says Martin.

Aaron Gordon, 20, wanted to be a driver when he started at UYRS, but realizes now that “my real strength was automotive repair.” Gordon has honed his skills through internships with Sears Craftsman and by working on the Red Horse Racing team crew.

“Ninety-nine percent of our kids, they don’t have a father figure in their lives,” says Martin of the UYRS teens.

“We want to get these kids focused - keep them away from crime. Motorsports is just a new way to get them focused,” he emphasizes.

- Karen Carrillo

Copyright The Crisis Publishing Company Jul/Aug 2007
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved

Tags: , Anthony Martin, driver team development, NAACP, nascar, racing, sears, sponsors, students, Urban Youth Racing School, uyrs