From the North Carolina Auto Racing Hall of Fame Facebook Page…
These Racing Personalities will be signing autographs at the 35th Annual Stocks-For-Tots Childrens Charity hosted by the North Carolina Auto Racing Hall of Fame on Tuesday, December 3rd at the Charles Mack Citizens Center on Main St in Mooresville from 6:30pm – 8:30pm.
CHARLOTTE, N.C., June 18, 2024 – The Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America today announced it raised nearly $1.8 million after completing its 28th Anniversary Ride, which took place May 4 – 10, 2024. Funds raised directly benefit Victory Junction – a camp in Randleman, North Carolina servicing children with chronic medical illnesses. The Ride’s donation supports summer camperships, building projects and maintenance programs – including the building and maintenance of the brand new Kyle Petty Charity Ride Water Park. (more…)
CHARLOTTE, N.C., February 27, 2024 – Former NASCAR driver and racing analyst Kyle Petty is hitting the open road once again to lead the 28th Anniversary Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America – one of the most popular charity rides in the country. From May 4 – 10, 2024, Petty will lead 150 motorcycles across nine states on a seven-day trek, covering more than 2,100 miles in an effort to raise funds and awareness for Victory Junction – a camp dedicated to providing life-changing camping experiences for children with serious and chronic medical conditions. (more…)
SAVE THE DATE 
5.23.24 Joey Logano’s 2nd Annual Concert For Charity (more…)
LOUDON, N.H. – New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS) is a top destination for riders visiting the area during Laconia Motorcycle Week, June 10-18, with on- and off-track events throughout nine days of motorcycle mayhem. The 100th Annual Loudon Classic headlines a week-long motorcycle celebration that also features vendors, demo rides, camping and more. (more…)
NASHVILLE, TN – June 6, 2023 – Big Machine Music City Grand Prix hosted their annual Celebrity Charity Golf Tournament on Monday, June 5th at the Old Hickory Country Club to benefit CreatiVets, a non-profit organization that supports healing Veterans through creative outlets. (more…)
CHARLOTTE, N.C., May 23, 2023 – The Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America today announced it raised more than $1.7 million after completing its 27th Anniversary Ride, which took place April 29 – May 5, 2023. Funds raised directly benefit Victory Junction – a camp in Randleman, North Carolina servicing children with chronic medical illnesses. The Ride’s donation supports summer camperships, building projects and maintenance programs – including upkeep of the Kyle Petty Charity Ride Water Park.
CHARLOTTE, N.C., February 28, 2023 – All eyes will be on Nevada and Utah from April 29 – May 5, 2023 as former NASCAR driver and racing analyst Kyle Petty celebrates the 27th Anniversary Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America with a scenic journey through the Sagebrush and Beehive States. As one of the most popular charity rides in the country, Petty will lead more than 125 motorcycles on a seven-day trek, covering over 1,500 miles in an effort to raise funds and awareness for Victory Junction – a camp dedicated to providing life-changing camping experiences for children with serious and chronic medical conditions. (more…)
In celebration of a new partnership, a 1993 Chevrolet Corvette Callaway SuperNatural Convertible 6-Speed was donated by one of Lime Rock Park’s owners to raise money for Lime Rock’s charitable partners, the Hole In The Wall Gang Camp and the American Mural Project.
CHARLOTTE, N.C., June 21, 2022 – The Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America today announced it raised more than $1.8 million after finally completing its 26th Anniversary Ride following two postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This marks the most funds raised during a single Ride since 2006!
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. ‒ March 31, 2022 – Barrett-Jackson, the World’s Greatest Collector Car Auctions, will auction one of the most highly anticipated Corvettes during the company’s return to South Florida for the 2022 Palm Beach Auction, April 7-9. The first retail production 2023 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Convertible will cross the world-famous auction block on Saturday, April 9, at approximately 4:30 p.m. ET live on The HISTORY Channel to benefit the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF), the nation’s largest organization exclusively representing Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs). (more…)
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Mar. 1, 2022 – Kyle Petty Charity Ride, Inc. today announced it will finally complete its 26th Anniversary Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America after being sidelined for more than two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (more…)
CHARLOTTE, N.C., July 20, 2021 – This fall, Kyle Petty will host the “Charity Ride Revival (CRR),” a one-time only, miniature version of his annual Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America. The CRR was created in response to postponing the larger Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America until Spring 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The AmericanTrucks.com (AT) Positive Payload program is announcing another deserving charity as the recipient of our $2,000 annual grant!
In case you hadn’t heard, back in 2017, AT decided to give back to a crucial part of the community it serves. The auto parts retailer for Ford, RAM and GM pickups wants to support builders, contractors, field workers, and organizations relying upon the services of these hard working folks TO GET THE JOB DONE! (more…)
After a wild race at the behemoth that is Talladega Superspeedway last weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series prepares for this Sunday’s Buschy McBusch Race 400 (3 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Kansas Speedway, its fourth event of the 2021 season on a 1.5-mile track. (more…)
(Stafford Springs, CT)—Like many racers at all levels of racing, Stafford Speedway Street Stock competitor Marvin Minkler always had a dream to one day become a racecar driver. Where Minkler differs from many racers of today was the path he took.
As a child, Minkler attended races at Danbury Arena and had plans on racing there but the track’s closure put his dream on a back burner. The racing dream was further put on hold as Minkler’s life took some turns serving in the Army as part of the 3rd Infantry, “The Old Guard” stationed in Washington D.C. and beating cancer in 2013. What led him back to racing was a surprise gift from the youth hockey team he coached, a night behind the wheel of one of Gary Spinnato, Jr. and Paul Varricchio, Jr.’s Rent A Racecar machines in Stafford’s Street Stock division in 2017.
“I used to go to Danbury with my grandfather every Saturday and my cousin Bob Furano raced there,” said Minkler. “The thought process was when I was old enough I was going to get in the car and go driving, so that was always my childhood dream. Once Danbury closed down, that dream kind of died but my love for racing never stopped. I went to races all the time and when I was in the military, I was always dragging guys to Manassas Speedway in Virginia. In 2013 I was going to go racing but I was diagnosed with cancer. Every day when I would go for radiation and chemotherapy it was in the back of my mind that I was going to try to race once I got better. One year the hockey team that I coached got me a ride with Rent A Racecar as an end of season gift. I ran that one race and I wanted to race again.”
Minkler finished his first race 14th out of 16 cars, but despite that the racing bug had set in and Minkler was determined to continue on. He followed up his first outing in 2017 with three more starts in Rent A Racecar machines in 2018, including his very first top-10 finish. Then the 2019 season found Minkler bringing his dream to fruition.
“After racing with Rent A Racecar a couple of times, I was talking with Paul and Gary about getting a car and Greg DeMone was selling his car,” said Minkler. “I purchased his car and we put the car together in about 8 weeks and after that I was off to the races in 2019. I knew how to change the oil or change the tires on the car, but I knew nothing about building a racecar. Paul, Gary, and Butch from Rent A Racecar were all great helping me out putting the car together and I’ve learned a lot from them.”
Now that Minkler has achieved his dream of getting behind the wheel of a racecar, he has no plans to stop racing any time soon.
“I think Red Farmer is about 90 now and he’s still racing so I’m going to keep on racing until I can’t anymore,” said Minkler. “I enjoy going to the shop and learning things about the car and that has been just as equally rewarding for me as the driving part. I teach skating and I can help kids become better skaters but I can’t teach them balance. I understand where to hit the brakes and where to get back on the gas but I’m still learning the balance between that. I’m envious of the young kids who come in having already started racing go karts at 5 years old because that’s the equivalent of me teaching a 5 year old how to skate.”
After a 2020 season that was plagued by mechanical issues for Minkler and his #71 car, he is aiming to be a consistent presence in the top-10 during the 2021 season.
“Hopefully we’ve fixed all the problems we had last year,” said MInkler. “Last year was all mechanical issues for us. In 2019 we didn’t have one DNF so I came into 2020 with some confidence. The very first practice I broke something on the car and we ended up chasing that gremlin for the next 8 weeks. I think we went through 3 driveshafts and a transmission so I didn’t get the laps I was looking for and that was frustrating. Hopefully we’ve got everything fixed and I’d like to be a top-10 car on a consistent basis this season, which I think we can get done. Once we can achieve some top-10 finishes, we’ll start to look at getting into the top-5. I don’t want to jump too far ahead and be unrealistic and have delusions of grandeur.”
In addition to getting his car fixed up for the 2021 season, Minkler will also welcome a new sponsor, Riko’s Pizza of Stamford, CT. The new sponsor-driver combination will allow any fans who can’t get to the track in person to watch Minkler and Stafford’s other 4 weekly divisions race every Friday at any Riko’s Pizza location.
“Riko’s Pizza came on board with us this season and they’re a small town pizzeria that has grown and branched out with some franchises in Florida,” said Minkler. “They’ve been great to work with so far and they’re working with FloRacing to be able show the Stafford live stream at all their locations every Friday night. They’re pretty aggressive with their marketing so we might have some tee-shirts and hats to give away during the season. We also have Platoon22.org on the car, which is a charity that works with veterans. I encourage everyone to support their veterans and being a veteran myself, that’s something that is near and dear to my heart.”
Despite his late start into racing at age 49 and still going strong this season at age 53, Minkler says that if you have a dream to go racing, it’s all about taking that first step to go ahead and make that dream become a reality.
“You can’t get any better in life by sitting on the couch,” said Minkler. “It can be the biggest thing or the smallest thing but the greatest journeys in life always start with the first step. I would say the first step would be to see Gary and Paul at Rent A Racecar and see what you think about going racing. If you have an itch to do something then you have to scratch that itch.”
Minkler will kick off his 2021 season on Saturday, April 24 as part of NAPA Opening Day. General Admission tickets for the April 24 NAPA Auto Parts Opening Day are now available online at StaffordSpeedway.com/
For more information, visit www.staffordspeedway.com
Source: Scott Running/Stafford PR
