CONCORD, N.C. — NASCAR Cup Series driver Daniel Hemric and the 2023 Bank of America ROVAL winner AJ Allmendinger worked alongside 64 local fifth graders to paint the “turtles” ahead of the upcoming Oct. 11-13 Bank of America ROVAL 400 weekend.
As part of the speedway’s year-round STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) program, students designed and painted six-inch-high steel rumble strips that will be installed around the road course ahead of next month’s pivotal NASCAR Xfinity and Cup Series races. The 100-pound kerbs will be bolted to the track surface to help keep drivers on the newly reconfigured 17-turn, 2.28-mile course.
Students from Our Lady of Assumption, Mt. Pleasant Elementary School, Paw Creek Elementary School, First Ward Creative Arts Academy, Mint Hill Elementary School, Hickory Ridge Elementary School, Rocky River Elementary School and University Park Creative Arts Academy each creatively decorated their “turtle” in a “What does STEAM Mean to You?” theme. The colorful designs varied from robots and computers to paint brushes and test tubes.
“Honestly when they said we were going to be here painting and our turtle was gonna be on TV, I was really nervous about that but when I started painting with all my friends and socializing I became really excited to be out here,” First Ward Creative Arts Academy student Sariely Acosta said.
On top of creating their own designs on the “turtles,” Hemric and Allmendinger interacted with the kids as they completed their creative processes and also spoke with them about what STEAM means to them as drivers.
“Their talent far exceeds anything I could do as a kid at that age, especially when it comes to artwork,” Allmendinger said. “To see the excitement level on their face and them just kind of looking around and me talking to them a little bit about how fast we go here, it’s just such a cool event. It’s fun to be able to talk to them and find what excites them, and what they want to be as they grow up, especially hearing them talk about science, technology, engineering and math which are all part of our daily lives when it comes to motorsports.”
“It’s super cool to see it on this side of it, to see all the students out here, using their imaginations, completely thriving within the STEAM program and seeing their imagination come to life through the painting of the turtles,” Hemric said. “A lot of them may have never been inside the walls of a race track or seen anything like this, so to know that they’re gonna be able to turn on the television during ROVAL™ weekend and see something they took part in is super cool.”