On May 4, about 250 motorcycles will rumble out of Deadwood, South Dakota, beginning a 2,100-mile journey across the country.
Their destination? Victory Junction Camp, near Greensboro, where children with medical needs can have a camp experience at no cost to them or their families, thanks to generous donors and the Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America.
This is the 20th anniversary of Victory Junction Camp and the trek across America led by former NASCAR driver Kyle Petty.
“The Victory Junction Camp lets kids with chronic and serious illnesses attend a normal summer camp,” Petty said in a phone interview earlier this week. “They have medical needs such as cancer, hemophilia, spina bifida and epilepsy.”
The ride dates to 1995 when Petty organized cross-country rides to raise money for charitable causes and organizations.
Since its inception, about 9,100 riders have traveled more than 12 million miles and raised more than $21 million for Victory Junction, according to a news release. It costs about $2,500 for a child to go to the camp, Petty said.
It was death of his son in 2000 that led to the creation of the camp.
Adam Petty, 20, was killed when his car slammed into wall at New Hampshire Motor Speedway during a practice session. He had been competing for about a year, his father said.
It was Adam’s dream to create a camp for children with medical needs. The two talked about it in the late 1990s, Petty said.
“We went to a camp in Florida, Camp Boggy Creek, that’s a ‘sister’ camp to Victory Junction,” Petty said. “We were already doing the ride and Adam said, ‘Why not build a camp?”
They talked about it “but life gets in the way. Times goes by and suddenly (Adam) was killed.”
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Petty didn’t want to see Adam’s vision die. So, he made the decision.
“We (the Petty family) decided to do it (build a camp) and decided to raise the money in 2002, and it opened in 2004,” Petty said.
Since opening, about 125,000 children from all 50 states have experienced Victory Junction Camps at the 84-acre site in Randolph County. The camp also has its REACH program where summer camp experiences are taken to children in hospitals, clinics and Ronald McDonald Houses in North and South Carolina, according to the Petty Charity Ride website.
This being the 20th anniversary, some special events are planned.
One is the opening of a water park and new pool, made possible through corporate donors, Petty said. The other is the arrival of the motorcyclists on May 10 somewhere between 1 and 1:15 p.m., he said.
Gates for the public will open at noon giving people the chance to meet and greet the riders.
Joining Petty on the ride this year are NASCAR Hall Fame drivers — Richard Petty (Kyle’s father) and Hershel McGriff; former NASCAR drivers Ken Schrader, Kenny Wallace and David Ragan; Max Papis, a top-ranked motorsport driver who has raced on the Formula One and NASCAR tracks; former NFL running back and Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker; and TV personalities Rick Allen and Rutledge Wood.
The riders will be accompanied by law enforcement and medical personnel in case of an emergency. So far, Petty said, no one has wrecked on the road.
The group will make several overnight stops and greet fans. The scheduled stops include North Platte and Omaha, Nebraska; Bettendorf, Iowa; Indianapolis, Indiana; Bowling Green, Kentucky; and Bristol, Virginia.
For more information, go to victoryjunction.org or www.kylepettycharityride.com
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