Pettys pick Wyandotte County site

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Pettys pick Wyandotte County site for second Victory Junction Gang Camp
By RANDY COVITZ
The Kansas City Star

NASCAR driver Kyle Petty and his wife, Pattie, have chosen a location in Wyandotte County for their second Victory Junction Gang Camp.

They have selected a 71-acre site at 8205 Riverview Road — just south of Interstate 70 and fewer than five miles from Kansas Speedway — to build a year-round facility that helps children with serious illnesses or chronic medical conditions.

The land, worth about $1 million, will be donated by the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City Kansas, pending a review and official approval by the county commission, likely in early 2009.

The property, considered surplus land by the Unified Government, is similar in size to the 72-acre site of the original Victory Junction Gang Camp the Pettys opened in 2004 in Randleman, N.C., in honor of their son, Adam, a NASCAR driver who died in a crash in 2000.

The Pettys plan to make an announcement this morning at Kansas Speedway. They had looked at 11 pieces of property on both sides of the state line for the year-round camp, which is free to children ages 6 to 16 from all over the country.

“This was the piece Kyle chose,” Pattie Petty said. “He said it was too good to be true. It’s near a church, near a community, has lots of trees and natural features. It looks like the road you go down when you come to the camp in North Carolina. Yet, you’re in town. We have to drive 20 minutes (in Randleman) to the closest town.”

Because the donation of the property is still awaiting approval, and more funds need to be raised for the $35 million project, a formal groundbreaking is not expected until next spring. It likely will be incorporated with Kyle Petty’s stop in Kansas City in May or June during his annual Motorcycle Charity Ride Across America.

It’s possible the camp could serve children on a partial schedule sometime in 2010, and be fully open be open by 2011, said Mike Lepore, president of the Kansas camp.

County officials and neighborhood leaders are welcoming the camp, which has not been able to keep pace with the number of children who want to attend the facility in North Carolina.

“We’ve received no opposition to it, and we’ve heard nothing but positive and gushing comments,” said Gary Ortiz, assistant county administrator for the Unified Government.

“This is an opportunity for the corporate community to become involved with a very worthy cause. It’s an ideal location, near health facilities, and we can accommodate out-of-town visitors and family members in our hotels and restaurants near the Village West and Speedway. It dovetails with the destination tourism we have going on.”

Pattie Petty and Lepore were to meet with Riverview Acres homeowners on Thursday night and answer any questions or concerns.

“The big question was they heard it was a ‘gang,’ that gang members were coming,” she said with a laugh. “But Mike explained, ‘No, it’s not gangs, but chronically ill children.”

Bill Boster, president of the association of about 250 homes, believes the camp will be as successful as the one in North Carolina.

“I get goose bumps when I talk about it with anybody, because it’s for the kids,” Boster said after discussing it with members of his Tuesday bowling group. “This is going to be an opportunity for volunteers. One gentleman told me, ‘Let me know when it happens, I want to be a volunteer.’

“I have not received a single negative vote from our group about this project.”

Lepore said more than $4 million has been raised in cash or in-kind donations toward the project.

“We’re a little ahead of where we hoped to be at this point,” he said. “Once people know where it’s going to be, it becomes more and more real, and it makes it easier on the fund-raising front.”

Already, the Tony Stewart Foundation pledged $1 million from a pay-per-view, all-star race this summer at Eldora Speedway in Ohio, and Sprint has made a similar donation. The NASCAR Foundation gave $500,000 last fall to be divided between both camps; and the Midwest Section PGA will conduct a pro-am on Monday at Shadow Glen Golf Club to benefit the camp.

Since the camp in North Carolina opened its doors in 2004, it has served nearly 6,000 campers and another 4,000 friends and family members.

In addition to serving children with medical conditions, Pattie Petty said Victory Junction Gang Camp is reaching out to the Army and National Guard and will be available to wounded soldiers.

“We’re getting ready to do three or four days with our veterans and their families,” she said. “They’re struggling to deal with neurological situations or amputees or veterans who are paralyzed.

“Our mission is to see chronically ill children and their families, but these guys who have gone to serve our country, they are just big kids who have come back with big injuries.”

The proximity to Kansas Speedway will make it easy for drivers to visit the new camp, especially if the track has two Sprint Cup events per year, as expected by 2011.

Several high-profile drivers have underwritten projects for the camp in North Carolina, including the Jimmie Johnson Victory Lanes bowling alley; Michael Waltrip Marathon Sportscenter gymnasium; Kurt Busch Superdome indoor softball field; Tony Stewart Maze; Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America Water Park; and Adam’s Race Shop, which is designed as the No. 45 race car, in the center of the camp.

“Both Clint Bowyer and Carl Edwards have told us they want to get involved and support the camp,” Lepore said. “If we can make it easier for the drivers to support the camp either by appearances or we bring the camp to the track, it makes it a lot easier.

“In Randleman, we’re more than an hour-and-a-half from Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Here, we’re not even 10 minutes from Kansas Speedway.”

While the camp in North Carolina has a decided NASCAR theme, Pattie Petty wants to give the new one “a Kansas City flair.”

“I want to open it up to the sports community in Kansas City,” she said. “This needs to be theirs. I want to meet the Kansas City Chiefs. We have a great big race car in the middle of our camp. Maybe we have a great big football there or a building that looks like a giant baseball for the Royals. Or maybe you do both.”

At the moment, one vehicle, a beat-up, abandoned school bus, sits on the property in Kansas City, Kan., that one day will be teeming with children.

“Somebody spray-painted K.P. on the side of it,” Pattie Petty said. “When we went to look at the property, Kyle said, ‘It was meant to be. We’re keeping the bus. We’ll plant flowers on it.’ ”

www.kansascity.com | 09/25/2008 | Pettys pick Wyandotte County site for second Victory Junction Gang Camp