CIRCUIT TRAINING: UYRS founder Anthony Martin (in hat) with, from left, Johny and Jeremy Ortiz (with car), Danny Colon and Ari Summers. : mike m. koehler

A West Philadelphia native and a lifelong fan of motor sports, Martin wanted to know how a kid in the inner city could get involved in auto racing. Ribbs, who grew up wealthy and therefore had the resources to attend camps and to travel, told him simply, "Racing is just too expensive."

Eight years later, after embarking on a sports-marketing career in which he developed the concept for Randall Cunningham's famous gold-tipped shoelaces—a career that allowed him to develop contacts throughout professional sports—Martin founded the Urban Youth Racing School (UYRS), still the only school of its kind in the country and a keystone of NASCAR's diversity efforts.

UYRS' offices may sit in a nondescript, one-story yellow building on North Front Street in Northern Liberties, but these days the school's impact extends all the way across the nation, if not the world: Hollywood producers have contacted Martin about a possible motion picture, MTV has expressed interest in a reality series, HBO: Real Sports is pursuing a feature story, and there will soon be a video game and new Speed Racer cartoon in which Velocity, Speed Racer's daughter, befriends kids from UYRS.

On Saturday at 1 p.m., the school gets to show itself to Philadelphia during the Second Annual UYRS Grand Prix of Philadelphia, a go-cart race along Eakins Oval.

The school has a waiting list of 800, with inquiries pouring in from all over the world, and officials from cities across the country have expressed interest in having it expand to their communities. UYRS is for children ages 8 to 18—many of whom are disadvantaged—and it is intensive and thorough: A five-week classroom training course that stresses everything from mathematics and science to the importance of being clean-cut and professional so as to attract sponsors, the lifeblood of the motor sports industry. The next five weeks emphasize on-track experience in go-carts at Arnold's in Oaks, where outside instructors, including NASCAR drivers like Dale Earnhardt Jr., tutor kids on the nuances of driving.

Those with the right interest and ambition move on to the school's advanced program, which allows students to travel to races along the East Coast. The school also has an internship program that places students directly with NASCAR racing teams. The kids learn not only to be drivers, but tire changers, mechanics, engineers, even crew chiefs—all of which present possible career opportunities in a sport that continues to grow.

And it's all free, paid for by sponsors Martin has been able to attract throughout the years—though only one is from Philadelphia (Sunoco).

"Philadelphia is a stick-and-ball town," Martin says.

A graduate of Frankford High School, where he played basketball, and Central State University in Ohio, Martin has been possessed with an entrepreneurial streak since his youth, when he once dreamed of building a Lamborghini bed and later saw someone else had begun selling that very product, thereby validating his ambitions.

"Anthony's different," says Gary Cobb, a former Eagle and current sports-talk host on WIP. "He grew up in the city, but he was into auto racing—that's not normal. But he's entrepreneurial, and they don't think the way that everyone else thinks. He makes things happen. He has a way of getting to the right people."

Despite auto racing's stereotype as a sport catering largely to Southern rednecks, Martin says he has encountered almost no resistance on account of his race, or the race of his students. There have been a few "crazy looks" from those in the stands, he says, but that's about it.

"They want people of color, they want Spanish people, they want all of that," says Martin of NASCAR. "The question becomes for NASCAR, how do we bring other consumers into our sport and not piss off the Southern redneck? And the answer to that question is, you're going to piss off the Southern redneck. There's really no way around it."

Cameron French, who grew up in Mount Airy and Roxborough, went through the program as a high school senior five years ago after reading an article about it. Though he had always had an interest in sports and in cars, French never had a way to get involved, to learn more.

"There was nothing, really, for me, at least in Philadelphia," says French, who graduated from University of North Carolina at Charlotte on May 13. "When I found the school it was the answer to my prayers."

French, 22, has since interned at UYRS and with the Joe Gibbs Racing Team in North Carolina. He plans to pursue a master's degree and will intern this summer with the Democratic National Committee. He's also been tapped by Martin to get a UYRS up and running in Washington, D.C., an idea that he says "absolutely" has his interest.

"It's very special," says French of UYRS, "because it gives you the opportunity to know you can do whatever it is you want, no matter what it is. That's the constant message that comes through."

While none of UYRS' students is currently working in NASCAR, several have internships, and some, like French, are interested in coming back to help the school as it grows.

"These kids who have come through our program, I like the idea of them coming back and wanting to help," Martin says, "because we helped them get to where they are."