Ryan Justice visits the Texas Children’s Hospital

May 11, 2006 – Star Mazda Championship Series driver Ryan Justice made his first hospital visit of the 2006 season at the Texas Children’s Hospital located in Houston Texas. Arriving Wednesday at the hospital along with several other series competitors, Ryan made his usual rounds to the rooms bringing smiles to all the kids and their parents. “I really enjoy making appearances at Children’s hospitals in the cities I race in. It makes me feel a little more connected to the people there,” said Ryan. “These visits give the drivers in the series’ that they represent a chance to meet people from where they are racing and to make a difference in the life of a child that deserves it so much.”

The visit done by Ryan and others among the series was organized by Racing For Kids®, an organization founded in 1989 at Children's Hospital of Michigan. Racing For Kids® is designed to use the increasing popularity of motorsports to bring the public’s attention and funding to the health care needs of children. The hospital visits form the heart of the program. Each Racing For Kids® driver and rider visits children in Children's Hospitals where they race. They spend time with each sick youngster answering questions about their sport, handing out the distinctive Racing For Kids®/Aventis hats and signing autographs.

Racing For Kids® representatives have visited with more than 15,000 young patients in over 240 hospitals in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan and Australia. In addition, over $2.5 million has been raised through donations and specific fund raising events for children's hospitals across the country.

Texas Children's Hospital is an internationally recognized full-care pediatric hospital located in the Texas Medical Center in Houston. One of the largest pediatric hospitals in the United States, Texas Children's Hospital is dedicated to providing the finest possible pediatric patient care, education and research.

Texas Children's is nationally ranked in the top four among children’s hospitals by both Child magazine and U.S. News & World Report. The hospital has garnered widespread recognition for its expertise and breakthrough developments in the treatment of cancer, diabetes, asthma, HIV, premature babies, and cardiogenic and attention-related disorders. Watch a video to learn more about how Texas Children's is changing the face of health care, one child at a time.
Texas Children’s is affiliated with Baylor College of Medicine and is its primary pediatric training site. Baylor professors also are the service chiefs and staff physicians of Texas Children's more than 40 patient care centers. 

The hospital's award-winning medical staff consists of more than 1,580 board-certified, primary-care physicians, pediatric subspecialists, pediatric surgical subspecialists and dentists. In addition, Texas Children's offers a dedicated, highly skilled nursing and support staff of more than 6,000.

For Ryan the hospital visit is one of the most gratifying parts of the week, but now starts the busiest part of the week. Ryan and the entire team have worked many hours since the last race in Sebring, now they hope will pay off here in Houston. To follow Ryan on his quest for the 2006 championship title, check out these websites. www.ryanjustice.com / www.northwestautosport.com   /  www.starmazda.com  Also look for the Lone Star Grand Prix / Star Mazda Championship Series race to be broadcast on Speed Channel May 28^th at 5:00pm

Based in Milwaukie, Oregon, Northwest Autosport is one of the top teams participating in the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear, which will feature twelve races across the United States and Canada supporting the American Le Mans Series, ChampCar and the GrandAm series. For more information please visit www.northwestautosport.com.