RISING YOUNG CANADIAN STOCK CAR RACER JOINS FORCES WITH CHARITY TO HELP KEEP KIDS ON THE RIGHT TRACK

June 15, 2009 - Toronto: Kelly Wood, the 19-year old rising star of Canadian Late Model series stock car racing, attended the annual Youth Assisting Youth (YAY) picnic Saturday June 13, to announce her partnership with the peer mentoring service that matches at-risk or newcomer children throughout the GTA with young adult mentors.

“As a mentoring organization, Youth Assisting Youth is thrilled to be aligned with the strength and integrity that Kelly brings, both as a competitor on the race track and as a positive role model that any young person could look up to,” said Sally Spencer, CEO of YAY. “We make it a priority to support our mentors who are in turn, helping the community’s youth.” (www.yay.org)

This partnership represents a natural fit between Kelly’s own keen desire to inspire Canadian youth to achieve success in all aspects of their lives and YAY’s mission to promote the healthy and productive growth and development of young people through mentorship. “If you want to be successful, you have to work hard for it,” explains Wood. “Now that I’m in the competitive world of stock car racing, I realize the value of the love, support and hands-on help I’ve been given over the years by my family, friends and racing mentors. They’ve helped me grow as an athlete and as a young woman entering this exciting sport, and along the way, I’ve learned many valuable lessons including the realization that it takes a team to help you get there.” And Kelly is now teaming up with YAY to help keep other kids on the right track.

Kelly has been racing since 2006 when she started in go-karts, winning Rookie of the Year at the Simcoe Kart Club and chalking up numerous wins, top-ten finishes and two championships. She moved up to Limited Late Model racing in 2008 and placed 4th in her very first race. 2009 sees Kelly running a full Late Model Schedule at Kawartha Speedway. In 2010, Kelly joins the big leagues, the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, where she’ll proudly carry the YAY logo on her car when she takes her first trip around the professional tracks across Canada. www.kellywoodracing.com