Ben Albano Racing has announced the fourth annual kart race to benefit Project Yellow Light, an organization that promotes awareness of the dangers of distracted driving. Greenwich teens Austen Albano, a junior at King in Stamford, Will Jeffery and Quentin McDermott, a senior and junior at Brunswick School, and Maggie Montague, a junior at Greenwich High School are organizing the race and signing up participants from high schools throughout Fairfield, Conn. and Westchester, N.Y. counties. The race will take place Friday, April 22, at 7 p.m., at Grand Prix New York, which has hosted each of the previous three years, at 333 North Bedford Road in Mt. Kisco, N.Y.
Teams of 2 to 5 drivers will race to complete the most laps in the 90-minute endurance race. Entry fees of $100 per team are fully tax-deductible, and all proceeds go directly to the Project Yellow Light Hunter Garner Scholarship, thanks to the generosity of local corporate sponsors, which include Teddy’s Transportation of Norwalk, Petro Home Services in Stamford, and Fresh Green Light in Greenwich. Paraco Gas, based in Rye Brook, N.Y., is the lead sponsor for the race and has supported this event for two consecutive years. Paraco CEO Joe Armentano commented, “With over 100 vehicles on the road, we are committed to helping ensure that the roadways are safe and are pleased and proud to help lead the effort, raising awareness among teens in our area.”
Since its inception in 2012, this event has experienced increased success each year, both in terms of awareness and funds raised. “We are so delighted with this wonderful event established by Ben Albano, his family and friends. The race grows each year and with it, its reach to warn youths of the dangers of distracted driving,” said Julie Garner, co-founder of Project Yellow Light. “This grass-root effort has been significant in terms of raising awareness as well as funding for the Project Yellow Light Hunter Garner Scholarship.” Ben Albano is a racecar driver and student at University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. He created the Race for Project Yellow Light while a student at Greenwich High School, where he was an active in the community in raising awareness for the dangers of distracted driving.
To sign up to race, or for more information, contact Austen Albano at aalbano@klht.org, Will Jeffery at wjeffery@brunswickschool.org, Quentin McDermott at qmcdermott@brunswickschool.org or Maggie Montague at margaret.montague@greenwichschools.org.
About Project Yellow Light
Project Yellow Light is a national scholarship competition designed to bring about change, in partnership with the Ad Council, Mazda, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, National Organizations for Youth Safety and U-Haul. Applicants have a clear mission: encourage peers to develop and embrace safe driving habits. For both the high school and college contests, the first-place winners receive a scholarship in the amount of $5,000, second-place finishers receive $2,000, and third-place finishers receive $1,000. A new billboard scholarship contest was launched on March 1 to complement the video competition with designs due on May 1, 2016. Winners for both competitions will be announced in Times Square at a press event hosted by Clear Channel. Information for both video and design competitions can be found at projectyellowlight.com. Project Yellow Light was founded in memory of Hunter Garner - a 16-year-old with a dry wit, wicked sense of humor, interesting creative mind, who loved music, running, and had lots of friends from all walks of life. Hunter died in a car crash on June 10, 2007 at the age of 16.