Youth Racers of America Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2019 by racecar driver, McKenna Haase. McKenna doesn’t come from a racing family but fell in love with the sport after meeting a NASCAR driver in a shopping mall in 3rd grade. She joined a men’s karting league where anyone could pay to race and did that for two years while saving money to race herself one day. After being exposed to youth racing while witnessing her cousin race a junior sprint, she fell in love with youth racing and was amazed she never knew it existed. After months of research, she found a youth track in her area, and after spending enough time there, got the chance to test drive the track owner’s grandson’s car. Doing quite well, she used $800 to get her first outlaw kart, and the rest is history. McKenna went door to door selling sponsorship and also starting racking up wins on the racetrack. Over the course of 15 years, that combination propelled McKenna from outlaw karts to micro sprints to all 3 levels of sprint cars. The past few years, McKenna has been her own head mechanic, driver, and team owner racing at the pro 410 sprint car level. McKenna founded YRA to give back to the sport by helping kids have an easier path to getting involved than what she had.
YRA is designed to provide camps, clinics, safety gear, and educational resources for youth racecar drivers across the United States. YRA’s mission is to engage, inform, educate, and develop youth racecar drivers and their families through 3 different categories: Families New to Youth Racing, Current Youth Racers & Families, and Career Opportunities for Teens. By joining YRA, members gain access to a world of resources on topics including safety, driving tips, character training, marketing/sponsorship, motorsports financials, track rules, racecar setups, racecar maintenance, and advice from professional drivers.
Current Youth Racers and Families:
Families that are currently involved in youth racing can become a member of YRA in order to unlock a library of resources and opportunities for their youth racer(s). The current member’s zone of the YRA site is designed to engage, inform, educate, and develop current youth racers and their families. This includes informational videos on driving, marketing, safety, character, advice from professional drivers, and more, along with articles and other informational resources.
Families New to Youth Racing:
There’s currently a lack of outreach to general society on what youth motorsports are and how to get involved. In other words, young NASCAR and IndyCar fans might not even know the first place to start if they want to chase their dream of becoming a professional driver someday. This free area of the site allows families to view an interactive map in which you can select your location and see tracks in your area, the type of cars that race there, what the cost is for that type of racing, and how to go about purchasing.
Career Program for Teens:
While everyone would love to go fast for a living, unfortunately, a lot of young aspiring racecar drivers don’t go on to drive cars for a living; however, there are so many job opportunities in motorsports outside of driving! From accounting to marketing to graphic design, engineering, mechanics, and so much more, the opportunities are endless to work in racing. Our Teen Career Program provides education to teens about jobs in motorsports, job shadows, and internship connections. Contact us today to set up your teen with an opportunity!
Youth Racers of America’s goal is to have every youth racecar driver in the United States a member of YRA. Join us in helping to grow, educate, and empower the fastest kids of tomorrow!
