Labonte to open Midget facility.

2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Champion Bobby Labonte along with the North Carolina Quarter Midget Association and members of the Rowan County Board of Commissioners have unveiled plans for a state of the art racing facility to be built in Salisbury, N.C.

The facility, which will be the first of its kind in North Carolina, will play host to quarter midget racecars.

Quarter midget racing events are held throughout the United States at venues as large as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, all the way down to mall parking lots.

At current count, there are more than 60 permanent sanctioned quarter midget tracks around the country. In addition to the sanctioned facilities, there are also numerous "outlaw" quarter midget tracks, many of them set-up at what would be considered weekly racetracks. And while no sanctioning agreement has been announced for the Salisbury facility, there are two major quarter midget sanctioning bodies in the US. There is the Quarter Midgets of America (QMA) and Junior Sprint Cars of America (JSCA).

"There's a lot of racing in the area of North Carolina, but there isn't specifically any quarter midget racing," said 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion Bobby Labonte. "The closest quarter midget tracks are either located near Atlanta or all the way up in the Pennsylvania or New Jersey areas. Even though there is a lot of racing going on, there is currently nothing like this within the North Carolina, South Carolina or Virginia area."

For Labonte, the opportunity to help build this facility is a chance for him to be able to give something back to the sport of auto racing which has been very good to him over the years. As plans started to move forward, he knew it was going to have to stay centrally located and easily accessibly in order to be successful. The location in Salisbury is exactly what Labonte was looking for and he couldn't be more excited about making the announcement.

"What we have done today is just make everything official and hopefully get people in the area excited about it," explained Labonte. "The members of the board and everyone we have dealt with as we have moved through this process have been terrific. They understand our vision for this facility and have partnered with us to make it a reality. I am looking forward to continuing to work with them as construction begins and we start holding weekly races. I think the community here will be very proud of this."

"Rowan County is honoured that Bobby Labonte and his organization have chosen our community to be the home for the first quarter midget racing facility in this area," added Steve Blount, Chairman for the Rowan County Board of Commissioners. "This is a family activity that offers good clean fun not only to the youngsters racing the cars, but to the family members offering support and our citizens cheering them on from the grandstands. We welcome all of the NASCAR families and friends to Rowan County and look forward to a long and rewarding relationship with everyone involved in this endeavour."

While the racers travel with their families to all of the events, the typical quarter midget participant is between the age of five and 16 years old and surprisingly, more than one third of all the drivers are young females. Each family that participates may own from one to six quarter midget racecars and races in as many as 40 to 50 events a year with many of those events being high-profile national events. It is also estimated that there are over 4000 families and 6000 drivers currently participating in some form of quarter midget racing.

"Besides creating a first-class venue for them to race at, our goal with this facility is to create a clean, safe and healthy atmosphere for the entire family," said Labonte. "The younger kids will learn coordination, alertness, fairness, generosity and responsibility.

"I also feel as though it is the safest form of racing for kids between five and 16 years old," added Labonte. "I started out in it and I enjoyed it and we got to travel all over the place. In the racing hub we're located in, it's a good opportunity for more kids to start racing before moving up into the next division."

Being safe is just one aspect of quarter midget racing that Bobby Labonte is pleased with. He fully understands the dangers that go along with racing, but feels as though every effort is made in quarter midget racing to keep the kids safe.

"I think it's good," said Terry Labonte, two-time NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion and older brother of Bobby. "I think quarter midgets are a lot safer than many other forms of racing being offered out there to kids today. They have full seat belts with shoulder harnesses and roll cages."

Like numerous other youth oriented sports, both Labonte brothers have been able to maintain numerous relationships that were started when they were younger while racing quarter midgets.

"It's a fun sport and it's probably just as fun for me as it is for my son Tyler," admitted Bobby. "I really enjoy doing it because he likes it and it allows us to spend quality time together. In all seriousness though, I still have friends that are involved in quarter midget racing now with their kids, that I raced with when I was a kid. It's just a great family atmosphere and it's fun to be part of. It allows the parents and the kids to interact in something they can both have fun with, and by doing so, the kids are learning lessons that will help them later in life."

"For somebody that wants to be involved in a real family sport with their kids, quarter midget racing is an excellent way to get started," said Terry. "I've still got some great friends that I met when I was nine-years-old that I still stay in touch with that I met through racing quarter midgets together. When I raced we travelled all around the country and went to different meets and met people from all over the country. It was a lot of fun and it's just a great sport."

Many drivers racing at the professional level today began their racing careers in the seat of a quarter midget. In addition to Bobby and Terry getting their start, four-time NASCAR Winston Cup Champion Jeff Gordon and 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Raybestos Rookie of the Year sensation Ryan Newman, all got their careers started racing quarter midgets. In addition, USAC National Champions Dave Darland, JJ Yeley, Tracy Hines and 2001 USAC Rookie of the Year, Bobby East started their road to excellence in a quarter midget racecar.

"We had a lot of good times running quarter midgets," recalled Terry. "That's how Bobby and I both got our start and that's how Tyler is getting his start. Of course my son Justin got his start racing go-karts since there weren't any quarter-midget tracks around here to race on. You look at a lot of the guys like Jeff Gordon and Kenny Schrader and someone like Jimmy Vasser over in the CART Series. There's a lot of guys who got their start in quarter midgets and you can look and see where they are now."

And while the plans for the facility are still being worked on and finalized, one thing is for sure, with Bobby Labonte being involved, it will be a first-class facility.

"I know that by building a new facility like this, it's going to be good for the sport," concluded Terry Labonte. "And I know if Bobby's involved with it, it's going to be a first-class facility because he's going to see to it that it gets done right. He's pretty determined to get this thing rolling and more than anything, he wants it to be something we can all be proud of."