The World of Outlaws partnership with the Milton Hershey School has made an impact on the community

Brian Carter’s World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series has left the central Pennsylvania region and is competing in two-day weekend in Ohio. But the impact of the group’s visit still remains.

It has nothing to do with Brad Sweet’s dominating performance at Williams Grove Speedway last Friday night. Donny Schatz’s third podium in four starts took a back seat to a sun-splashed day off for the teams.

Pictures were taken and autographs were signed under perfect weather conditions. It was the type of scene that if it took place on race day, the stands at the local racetrack would be full, and the promoter’s pockets would be overflowing.

But this didn’t take place in a pit area. Instead, some of the best World of Outlaws regulars teamed up with Pennsylvania Posse members and the Milton Hershey School on neutral ground at the historic Hersheypark Stadium for the Hershey Sprint Car Experience, a community event that had more meaning than a main event finish.

“It brings two communities together inside the same geography,” said Carter, CEO of the World Racing Group, the parent company of the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series. “The community is built around serving these kids. The passion is that objective, and it’s also making everybody’s life better around here and our racing community.

“The energy between those two communities merging today, and as it has over the last year, it’s spectacular. I’m recharging my energy trying to figure out how I can make it better. There is so much energy here with the kids, the families, all the cars, the racers, and everybody here, it raises awareness for everything.”

This event checked all of the boxes. It benefitted the students at the school, the surrounding community, and promoted Sprint Car racing in the region.

World of Outlaws drivers Brock Zearfoss, Gio Scelzi, Carson Macedo, Logan Schuchart, Spencer Bayston, Noah Gass, David Gravel, and Bill Rose were joined by Pennsylvania Posse members Chad Trout, Dylan Norris, and Tyler Ross for the event. By the time fans filed out of the stadium, these drivers were exhausted from the non-stop flow of traffic.

Teams had their cars on display on the floor of Hersheypark Stadium in celebration of the history of Midget racing at the historic, multi-purpose athletic facility. Students were first in line for a meet-and-greet with each driver before the surrounding community was allowed in for an evening session.

The turnout was a huge success. It’s estimated that over 4,000 students and people from the community walked through the gate. BAPS Motor Speedway and other vendors were also in attendance at an event that was free to the public.

“I think it exceeded expectations for everybody,” said Brock Zearfoss, who is also sponsored by the Milton Hershey School. “There were a ton of people, and it’s good to see the amount of support from the community, race teams, and fans, in general.

“With as good as it was and the amount of excitement that there was, if they continue to keep doing it — and I think they will — I think it’s only going to get bigger. There are avenues they can go down to make it even more exciting and unique than it was this year.”

A PARTNERSHIP IS BORN

Milton S. Hershey and his wife Catherine couldn’t have children, so they came up with the idea of creating a home and school for kids in need. That led to the development of the Hershey Industrial School, which was founded in 1909.

The ideas of Milton and Catherine Hershey have expanded over the years. The curriculum has evolved and continues to help students in social and financial need receive a quality education and skills to live productive lives.

It’s an initiative that appealed to the World of Outlaws, and the series jump-started the partnership a year ago with Zearfoss and Bayston making an appearance at the school for a student-only event.

This year, the two sides wanted to kick things up a notch. That led to the multi-prong idea of honoring the storied history of racing in the Hersheypark Stadium and pairing it with community engagement while also promoting the sport.

“We have a partnership with Brock Zearfoss, so I was at a team lunch, and our server mentioned the partnership with the World of Outlaws and the stadium once being a speedway,” said Kristina Pae, Director of Integrated Marketing at Milton Hershey.

“There was a picture of the stadium on the wall, and unaware, I jumped up from my seat, looked at it, and saw the anniversary was when the Outlaws were coming to town. I thought, wouldn’t it be great to have a meet-and-greet on the grounds of the old speedway.

“So, we just talked about how we are trying to build better awareness about the school and the broad community we serve. We just felt like this was a natural extension of the relationship we have, and we thought it would be a super-fun event and wanted to open it up to the entire community.”

This wasn’t an event that was just thrown together. It was well thought out. Pae and her staff teamed up with Carter’s crew to promote the mission of the school while also exposing the community to dirt-track racing in the region.

There was a slow build up in the weeks leading up to the event. The day cars were scheduled to arrive, television spots featuring World of Outlaws Director of Marketing Chris Dolack and drivers started at 5:30 a.m.

The exposure and effort paid off. Students showed up in school vans, walked through the gates, and got a chance to experience a world they didn’t know. As for fans, they met their heroes and got an autograph, picture, or both.

“The goal is to bring joy to as many people as possible and provide that escape at the racetrack to get to know everybody,” Carter said. “So much of the story of what the World of Outlaws is, even with recent hour we did on CBS, is that the racing being great. Anybody can have a Sprint Car race, but what we do and how we engage with local communities, tracks, fans, I want to be different.

“Today is evidence that we can do that and be different. This is the goal of creating destination-type of events and having something that allows us to spend four or five days in the community and have an impact on that community.”

CHASING A DREAM

Despite the best intentions, ideas and goals change with the passing of time. It can happen for a variety of reasons, which range from turning a profit to new people who have a different vision of how the business is supposed to run.

That hasn’t happened at the Milton Hershey School. The beliefs of the founder have been constant, and the current staff is always looking for ways to expand on Milton S. Hershey’s ideas to adjust to the current climate.

The partnership with the World of Outlaws and putting together the Hershey Sprint Car Experience is one of those new initiatives. The success was evident, and the students who attended understood the lesson.

“The kids were really excited about it,” Pae said. “Many of them aren’t familiar with the sport. Those who got to experience the tip of the iceberg last year thought it was really cool to hear the loud noise of a racecar, talk to the drivers, and get an idea of this dream and how you can dream big. This exposed them to an industry that has a lot of opportunity to follow your dreams.

“You can make a career as a mechanic? You can do that with a race team. You could see the country with a race team. You could be involved with the engineering of a race team. You could be involved with the business end.”

Continued Pae, “It’s that broad exposure, both career focused education-type disciplines and more traditional business disciplines. You can have it all in this industry, one that has such a passion in our backyard and a deep, rich history to Milton S. Hershey, our founder.”

The link was there. Not just from the standpoint of exposing racing to new fans but building on a partnership that could make the difference in a kid’s life.

“We allow students to thrive and earn family-sustaining wages when they graduate from high school or when they graduate from college,” Pae said. “The resources at the school are unparalleled in the world.

“Milton S. Hershey was a man who was such a visionary for his time, and he saw that there was a need for a school like this. The level of philanthropy to say, ‘I’m this self-made man, and I want to pay this forward in an impactful way to serve this community and kids around the entire country.’”

MORE TO COME

There were smiles all around during the four-hour event. Organizers couldn’t have been happier, and drivers were blown away by the turnout.

“I had no idea what to expect,” said Gio Scelzi, a rookie with the World of Outlaws this season. “It was unbelievably eye opening. It wasn’t just the turnout, it was the whole Milton Hershey facility, how welcoming they were … I was blown away by the whole thing.

“What stinks about going to a school is that most kids just want to know how to become a driver. It’s such a hard question, because you don’t want to tell them it’s impossible. It’s not impossible, but it’s extremely difficult. But this was a chance to tell kids how many different jobs there are in racing.

“There are so many manufacturers in central Pennsylvania. You can be a part of racing, you can go to races, and I felt these kids just want to get a job in racing and be a part of it. I think there is so much opportunity, and that’s what Milton Hershey presents to these kids. They are given hope.”

Before the organizers left the facility, talks were already taking place. The objective, making this bigger and better in 2024, not only from a participation standpoint, but also in getting the message out to the surrounding community.

“This is our second year at the school,” Carter said. “We had a great program last year that was focused on the kids at the campus and great days with the automotive program and marketing program.

“This year, we’ve done that but have now engaged the community and brought people to Hersheypark to celebrate, not just the Outlaws and the Milton Hershey School, but also the history of racing in this stadium. There is so much history here, so I can only see this event growing.”