Race4life 2010 is proud to announce partnership with Driverwebsites.com & Powri racing. Bell Clair speedway in Belville Ill. is the meeting place for the always exciting Race4life. May 29-30 2010 will give us 2 great days of racing. With the 31st providing a rain date for the action. Powri Racing will handle the weekends racing events as Driverwebsites.com has taken on the lead role as this years title sponsor. Driverwebsites.com has stepped up to start the efforts in reaching our goal of $100,000! As a racing family we have given $84,000 in our first 4 years of racing. Our goal going into the 5th year is to reach the 100grand mark. With the help and support of Driverwebsites.com and other key sponsors and the racing community we are sure to make our goal. The 5th Annual Race4Life will be held at Belle-Clair Speedway in Belleville, Illinois and we will be racing POWRi Winged and Non-Winged Micros on Saturday and Sunday while featuring POWRi Midgets on Sunday only. Rain date will be Monday the 31st.
As always the Michael Ross Memorial Foundation is close to our heart and will receive a large part of the 2010Race4life. Tony and Kathy Ross, and daughter, Nicole Ross, established the foundation and its investment fund in memory of their son and brother, Michael Paul Ross. Michael passed away in 1990 at the age of 5 years old from a very rare genetic disease known as Tay-Sachs disease. The proceeds of the Race4life & MRMF go to the Bay Cliff Health Camp in Big Bay, Michigan. The camp is for handicapped children only, many with special care needs. Tony had been involved with Bay Cliff Camp when he lived in Michigan. It seemed appropriate that the Michael Ross Memorial Foundation be involved with the camp after Mike’s passing. Funding is raised to help remove the financial burdens from the children’s families so that the camp visit is completely paid for, including new wheel chairs, crutches, or other medical equipment the children may need. The Michael Ross Memorial Foundation has accomplished a lot in the last 11 years, but the main vision of the foundation was realized with the grand opening of “Mike’s Place”, the new Teen Center at Bay Cliff Health Camp in Big Bay, Michigan. The Race4life foundation is proud to be a very small part of the MRMF & the Bay cliff’s efforts. Bay Cliff Health Camp is a six-week summer camp that assists severely handicapped children. The camp funding is raised to help remove financial burdens from the children’s families so the visits are completely covered including new wheel chairs, crutches or other medical equipment the children may need. The children participate in camp activities and are taught specific learning strategies to aid them and their handicaps.
In addition, the Race4life foundation will be reaching out to a special little fan of our racing world. His name is Lucas Knee from Bellville Ill; He is a vibrant, talkative, inquisitive, energetic four year old. He LOVES Thomas the Train…, well trains period. The things we would find to be the most unentertaining he reads and watches with great enthusiasm. He also LOVES race cars……….. Tony Stewart, yes Tony Stewart! His mom turned on racing one day and that was it – he was hooked. His wonderful innocence lead him to believe that Tony’s car was at any Home Depot they passed (cute huh!). When it’s race time he will line his entire Hotwheel car collection up on the coffee table and when the race begins so does his. He races his cars, mimicking all those in the race. When they crash, his crash, if one goes out, so does his.
On 12/16/09 he was diagnosed with Aplastic Large Cell Lymphoma. It has rocked everyone’s world who knows this little boy, especially his parents. The day after he was diagnosed he had to undergo bone marrow testing, a spinal tap, and have a port-a-cath placed so that the doctors could administer his chemotherapy treatments. He had his 1st treatment on 12/18/09 and has done well, but remained in the hospital for observation. He made it home in time for Christmas and had a quiet Christmas at home with his family. Since his 1st treatment he has had to have a PET scan and CT scan. The PET scan did not show any spread of cancer, but the CT scan continued to show enlarged lymph nodes in his neck area. About 10 days after his initial treatments, his mom began to notice little by little his hair was falling out. Knowing this was to come, his mother bought a pair of clippers and sat Lucas and his dad down and buzzed their hair off to look alike. But Lucas, being himself, asked his mother when she was going to cut her hair too. So today, she went from hair down between her shoulder blades to a stacked bob – and Lucas LOVES it, he told her “Yep I liiike it!”
His weekly treatments are just about done, and as of the week of January 20th he will be able to go to an every three week treatment schedule. He will have to continue with the treatments for a total of 15 treatments, which equals about a year of chemotherapy. That is allot for a 4 year old!
Knowing what this family has to endure for the next years, Race4life would like to ask for any support and prayers you can offer to this family. Anyone who has been touched by cancer knows it is a difficult, lonely road to go down and any help that is offered makes that long journey just a little bit easier for those who are having to take this walk. The Gift of Prayer is the first and most important gift the Race4life is asking you to make for Lucas. Take 2 minutes out of your day for this little racer. Pray that God give him the strength and power to be a participant in the race of life. The second thing we ask you to do for Lucas is show up, support, and race your hardest on May 29th&30th at this years Race4life festivities.
Thanks for your support and Prayers,
Race4life 2010.
Gold Sponsors: Drivers Websites.com, Concept Chassis, Keizer Wheels, Ultrashield, Awsome Racewear, Hoosire Tire, Wings Unlimited.
Bronze Sponsors: Powri Racing, Factor 1 Racing, Sawyer Chassis, Advanced Racing Suspension, MoMo’s Racing Engines, Shively Racing Engines, Speedpartz,Bolted Spine Design, Saldana Racing Products, Henderson Graphics Tyler Henderson, Stewart Dyno, CRP Consept Racing products. LND wings.
Web link Sponsors: 600scene.com, Maximumdirt.com, Microoutlaws.com, Hoseheads.com, Midgetmadness.com,Microracing.com, Racemidgets.com
