YMCA campers enjoy health and wellness activities in a NASCAR setting

Four days of Speediatrics camp curriculum at Newton YMCA led to a vibrant and energetic field day for 160 area kids to kick off the NASCAR race weekend.

Youngsters who participated in the Speediatrics Fun Day Festival on Friday got to enjoy the Iowa Speedway first before crowds gathered for the Atlas 150, Hy-Vee Perks 250 and Iowa Corn 350. Behind the racetrack grandstands was the NASCAR Experience, the place where the kids would spend their morning.

They were greeted by Chase, the mascot of the NASCAR Foundation, and a bevy of friendly-faced volunteers manning different stations of activities. Teams took turns flipping tires, finding lug nuts in a pool of ping pong balls, filling canisters full of water and changing tires like a real pit crew.

ARCA Series drivers Quinn Davis and Austin Vaughn were also on hand for a meet-and-greet and to sign autographs. At the end of the festival, each kid got to go home with a new pair of brand-name sneakers to further encourage them to stay active and healthy. Strong wellness is what got them here in the first place.

For the past week, the kids had been wearing pedometers to track their steps in and outside the YMCA camp. The NASCAR Foundation then recognized the top steppers — Olivia Welch with more than 50,000 steps and Kenta Buckner with more than 64,000 steps — with certificates at the start of the festival.

George Sorensen, CEO of Newton YMCA, said the cool part about Speediatrics is its emphasis on promoting health and wellness. NASCAR teams have to be fit and in tip-top shape, he said, and it helps the foundation’s mission aligns with the YMCA and its community goals of youth development and healthy living.

“Kids need to be thinking about healthy living at this age,” Sorensen said in an interview with Newton News during the festival. “That’s what the curriculum teaches them, but it also incorporates it into NASCAR. We have a beautiful track here in Newton, so why not be a part of it. It’s awesome.”

The NASCAR Foundation operates as the charitable arm of NASCAR, and it provided the YMCA with a curriculum for campers. Sorensen said the curriculum was implemented Monday through Thursday mornings, along with other activities the YMCA offered to allow kids to get their steps in.

“For us, we felt it was a really great tie-in to who we are and what NASCAR (Foundation) is trying to promote,” Sorensen said.

As a national charity, the NASCAR Foundation works to impact the lives of children through the Speediatrics Children’s Fund and the Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award. The foundation is dedicated to enhancing he delivery of health and wellness programs and services to kids in racing communities.

More than 1.7 million children have been impacted by the NASCAR Foundation, and more than $46 million has been given to help children in need.

YMCA wrote a grant application for the NASCAR Speediatrics program around the time Sorensen was hired on as the new CEO. The organization was accepted and it turned into an “awesome experience” for more than 150 kids from Jasper County. Sorensen said partnerships like these are important.

“Iowa Speedway is an important fixture in Newton,” Sorensen said. “Our heritage and what we’ve been to the community for 150 years and bringing the two of us together, it seems like a real natural fit. At the end of the day, the kids get an experience and get exposed to NASCAR in a different way.”