BY TAMARA BELKOV
It's not everyday that a professional race car driver rolls
into the schoolyard with his $90,000 stock car and lunch for
184.
On Wednesday, students from kindergarten to Grade 6 at St.
Theresa Catholic School clambered for the opportunity to learn
more about stock car racing from Dave Connelly, a driver with
the Canadian Association for Stock Car Racing (CASCAR).
Connelly brought along his bright blue number 82 Chevrolet
Monte Carlo and hot dogs to promote the Fuel for Kids nutrition
program.
"Our sponsors provide all the nutritious free snack packs
for the kids' lunches," Connelly said.
The visit was sponsored by the Independent Grocer for Fuel
for Kids program. Later there was a fundraising barbecue at the
Four Corners Your Independent Grocer. Half of the proceeds go
to St. Theresa school and the other half goes to the
President's Choice Children's Charity.
This is Connelly's first visit to Sudbury. He has been part
of the Fuel for Kids team for more than two years and is based
in Arnprior near Ottawa.
"I think we have some future drivers here. It's really an
opportunity for them to have a nice free lunch and it gives
them a chance to come up and ask questions about the car and
learn more about the sport."
While the hot dogs broiled, Connelly, a driver for eight
years, promoted the safety aspects of wearing a flameproof
racing suit and helmet. His helmet is specially designed and is
safety rated for only one impact.
"If I even hit my helmet on the roll cage, it's no good. We
put it on the shelf and I get a new one for $1,000.
"We want to get across to the kids that safety is paramount.
We travel at 160 to 170 miles per hour on the track and I'm
actually safer at those speeds in my race car than you are just
driving around in the street. It's because of the way our car
is built, the safety harnesses and the track, so we want the
kids to know safety is key for us."
Connelly's stock car has a fibreglass body on a steel frame. His 500 horsepower Chevy 350 runs on 112 octane race fuel at 4.25 miles per gallon.  The special race fuel costs close to $10 a gallon and the tires for his race car cost $1000 each.
"We'll burn a tank of fuel in 60 minutes and my tires are only
good for an hour. And, I get four new ones and a tank of gas in
16 seconds."
CASCAR is an all Canadian race car circuit similar to NSCAR
racing in the United States.
