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As part of NASCAR's celebration of Black History Month and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Diversity initiatives, two students from the Urban Youth Racing School will be presented with The UYRS/XBOX Points Championship Trophies during pre-race ceremonies prior to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Daytona International Speedway on Friday, Feb. 18, 2005. The presentation will be broadcast live on Speed Channel at 8PM EST.
The students will be given a trophy and will serve as honorary crewmembers for Craftsman Truck Series teams during the race. The Urban Youth Racing School is a unique program dedicated to giving inner-city youth more opportunity and a chance to enhance their life skills through motorsports. Boys and girls age 8 through 18 participate in 10-week Build A Dream program during which they learn the ins and outs of the motor sports industry. They then advance to the Team Development Program where they build, maintain and race mini-stock cars across the country from March to November.
There is a year-long championship program that awards points to students based on overall performance just like the NASCAR championships are decided. Points are awarded based on performance in Urban Youth Racing School activities, as well as regular school grades and attendance. The overall champions are awarded the Urban Youth Racing School Points Championship sponsored by X-BOX. There are two championships representing two age groups; Juniors ages 8 through 12, and Seniors ages 13 through 18.
Congratulations to Leon Simmons, winner of the Senior XBOX Points Championship; Leon is currently a freshman at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte studying engineering. Jeremy Ortiz, is winner of the Junior XBOX Points Championship; Jeremy attends eighth grade at Ethan Allen School and hopes to attend Stanford or UCLA to study mathematics. They will be honorary pit crew members with Darrell Waltrip Motorsports; Leon with David Reutimann's crew and Jeremy with Robert Huffman's team.
UYRS MISSION - The Urban Youth Racing School is dedicated to giving disadvantaged, inner-city youth more opportunity and a chance to enhance their life skills by using motorsports as the magnet and education as the compass. UYRS is committed to making diversity, educational and youth issues a national priority.
www.UYRS.com