HERSHEY, Pa. — The World of Outlaws and Hershey teamed up on Thursday to showcase the first Sprint Car Experience.
The event was fittingly hosted inside Hersheypark Stadium, which was originally built as a speedway.
Sprint cars lined the stadium field as thousands of fans flocked to Chocolatetown. It was a chance to bring exposure to the deep roots of racing in Central Pa.
Eighty-four years ago, Milton S. Hershey originally built Hershey Stadium Speedway for racing, which later became Hersheypark Stadium.
The experience featured World of Outlaw and Pa. Posse driver meet-and-greets, access to antique cars and racecars, hauler tours and recognition of Hershey Stadium Speedway’s anniversary.
Fans and students were able to get an up-close look at some sprint cars and meet with drivers.
“It’s always good to come here and visit with the kids and just see the excitement on their faces," said Brock Zearfoss, World of Outlaws driver No. 3Z (Jonestown).
Before the event, Milton Hershey Middle School students showed off their work. Students in the internal combustion engine class showed some of the outlaw drivers what they've been working on while learning something new.
“It was awesome. One cool thing I learned about racing is, in the sprint cars, they don’t have engines that you just push a button to start," said Kevin Collier, a Milton Hershey seventh grader.
“Opening their eyes. Giving them different options. The small gas engines are one thing but there’s different jobs in a pit crew that they may not have known about," said Scott Cordner, Milton Hershey Career in Tech Ed teacher.
This is the second year outlaw drivers stopped by a few classrooms.
Both Zearfoss and Carson Macedo, World of Outlaws driver No. 41 (Jason Johnson Racing) hope to inspire some career options for the students.
"If you can just get one kid interested in Motorsports or just automotive[s in general] that's one more. Kids that were in that class were all hands-on and they seemed like they really enjoyed what the class was about," said Zearfoss.
"Give them another avenue to look at to see that anything's possible. [They may think] 'I can go out there, go to school and maybe become an engineer. Come back, work on one of these race teams, maybe become a driver someday. Really just follow[ing] their hopes and dreams," said Macedo. "A lot of people have seen it or been around it, luckily here in central Pa., there's so much of it."
Who knows, the next crew chief or engine builder might just be sitting in that classroom!
Some Milton Hershey students will be in the pits at Williams Grove Speedway on Saturday to help out a few teams.