ShoreLine

Two Sherrills Ford teens know exactly what they want to do with their lives.

Travis Byrd and Trevor Edwards are determined to be National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) stars.

“I want to make a living racing,” Edwards said. “I’ve always had a dream of making it to NASCAR. Ask any driver (their goal) and that is what it usually is.”

Byrd, 18, and Edwards, 16, are one step closer to their goals. They are enrolled in RACE 101, an educational program for race drivers, teams and mechanics, based in Denver.

But Byrd and Edwards are not complete strangers to the racing industry. They been racing since they were kids.

Byrd comes from a family of racing professionals. His grandfather raced with Ralph Earnhardt and his father, Tommy Byrd, is a mechanic at Rusty Wallace Racing.

At age 11, Byrd started racing go-karts, winning six races in five years. He decided to span out into other forms of racing after a family friend died in a go-kart accident.

In 2006, Byrd bought a late model stock car and fixed it up with his father. The car has extra protective features just like his mother, Beverly Byrd, requested.

The Bandys High School graduate mainly competes in the Limited Late Model Weekly at the Hickory Motor Speedway. He has been in the top 10 six times and in the late models race.

“I’d like to run a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car, but I’d be happy just running super late or late model stocks around here.”

Edwards, a junior at Lake Norman High School, is the son of Wayne and Melanie Edwards. Edwards’ father was a racecar driver.

Edwards travels back and forth from Kentucky to North Carolina to compete in the Pro Challenge Late Model Touring Series. He has competed in more than 20 tracks in eight different states.

A former go-kart racer, Edwards hopes to make a debut in the Camping World East and Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) series.

“I would like at the age of 18 to run the full Camping World Truck Series schedule and the following season run the full Nationwide schedule to be ready to run the Sprint Cup series at age 20,” he said.

Being enrolled in RACE 101 will teach Byrd and Edwards the ins and outs of the racing industry, from the parts of a racecar to brushing up on communication skills with crew chiefs, media and public relations agencies.

Byrd and Edwards are looking forward to learning more about how a racecar works.

“I want to learn about shocks and rebuilding shocks,” Byrd said. “People spend a lot of money on a car. If we are going to drive it, I think we need to know more about it.”

Last year, veteran racing crew chief Tony Blanchard founded RACE 101, which stands for Research, Analyze, Consult and Educate, One on One.

More than 100 people applied for the yearlong program, but only 15 got in. The Class of 2010 consists of 11 Americans and four Canadians. Amanda Ferguson of Florida is the only female enrolled in the program.

Blanchard is most widely known for his work with NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Joey Logano as crew chief for Joe Gibbs Racing Development in the USARacing Hooters Pro Cup Series.

Throughout the years, Blanchard found himself working with young people as a crew chief. He found that task to be very rewarding, and decided to start RACE 101.

“I saw a desperate need in racing to do program like this,” Blanchard said. “And I wanted to make it affordable for every aspiring driver out there who deserves a chance and wants to better themselves.”

The students received 75 hours of education through various tools, including webinars and classroom seminars.

Students will get to practice driving with their vehicle at their preferred track or drive RACE 101’s vehicle at a local track, such as the Hickory Motor Speedway.

The final assignment is to have the students participate in the Performance Racing Industry Show in Orlando, Fla.

The December event will allow the drivers to meet sponsors and other professionals in the racing industry. Also, it gives them a chance to practice the communication skills taught in the program.

“We do not promise any stardom in racing,” Blanchard said. “We are here to educate, plain and simple. You cannot build a driver by renting a car and showing up at the track.”

The top driver of the 2010 class will represent RACE 101 and sponsors in races the following year. The driver will get to drive RACE 101’s super late model car.

“Our goal is to make it when people go and sign onto a team or land a big sponsor, the learning curve is easier because we have made it easier,” Blanchard said.

The cost of RACE 101’s program is $10,000, but ten $7,500 scholarships are awarded to deserving drivers. The scholarship recipients only pay the $2,500 for the remaining tuition. Businesses and individuals can sponsor a student.

“The sponsorship that backs us allows us to put a kid in some races he or she will never be able to do,” Blanchard said.

Annamarie Strawhand, director of marketing for RACE 101, said people would get a unique experience by sponsoring a student.

“This whole program is very inspirational,” she said. “I think you are going to see a lot more people looking at what we are doing and go, ‘Wow.’”

“Tony said something to me yesterday. He said, ‘I want to touch lives and racing just happens to be a part of it.’ I was blown away by that statement.”

To learn more about RACE 101, call 704-489-4054 or visit www.race101.net.

The shop is located at Suite B at 3380 Denver Drive.