ECHO Chain Saw Carving Team Joins Pocono 500 Weekend to Carve for Victory Junction Kids Camp & 'Keeping the Dream Alive'

CHICAGO, April 28 /PRNewswire/ -- The ECHO Chain Saw Carving Team plans on "Keeping the Dream Alive" by carving masterpiece wood sculptures at Pocono Raceway from June 4-6 to benefit Victory Junction, a special camp for children with serious medical conditions, founded by Kyle and Pattie Petty and now a NASCAR community project.  

Competing and using their special talents to carve for a charity is not new to ECHO Carving Team members Mark Colp (Lakeport, CA), Jason Emmons (St. Croix, IN), Bob King (Edgewood, WA) and Mike Bihlmaier (Marengo, IL).  Comprised of four of the best professional chain saw carvers in the US, they are contracted by ECHO Outdoor Power Equipment to serve as ambassadors for the brand and to showcase their art form.  Their completed sculptures typically are auctioned at the conclusion of an event, benefiting a non-profit helping children or conservation.

The ECHO Carving Team members are both commission artists and competition carvers. So what's a competition carver? A chain saw artist would work on a commission piece for months in his studio. The challenge of high level competition is to carve extremely well against the clock, while bringing out a personal interpretation of a pre-chosen theme. ECHO calls this type of chain saw carving "Full Throttle Art."

During Pocono Raceway's June 4-6 NASCAR Sprint Cup weekend, the ECHO team will compete against each other, with their final masterpieces to be judged on the interpretation of the theme "Keeping the Dream Alive." A live auction will be held on site Sunday, June 6 at 11:30am.  Tickets for the weekends events start at $45 and are on sale now by calling the Pocono Raceway ticket office toll free at 1-800-RACEWAY (1-800-722-3929) or logging on to Pocono's website, www.poconoraceway.com .

Victory Junction in Randleman, NC was recommended by Pocono Raceway as the beneficiary of the ECHO team's appearance.  The carving theme is based on Victory Junction's 2010 fundraising campaign  in honor of Adam Petty.  The campaign goal is to raise funds to send kids to camp for free. It costs $2,500 per child for the weeklong camp. The auction goal is to raise at least $2,500 per final masterpiece sculpture.

You can read more about the ECHO Carving Team at www.echo-usa.com/carvingteam and follow them on FaceBook at www.facebook.com/echocarving.  ECHO Incorporated has manufactured outdoor power equipment for discerning homeowners and professional users for more than 30 years in the Chicago, IL area. The corporation is known for its technology development, particularly two-stroke engine design.  

About Victory Junction

Victory Junction is a year-round camping environment for children, ages six to 16, with chronic medical conditions or serious illnesses. Founded by Kyle and Pattie Petty in honor of their son Adam, the camp is located in Randleman, N.C. with a second location opening soon in Kansas City, Kan. Victory Junction offers programs for 24 disease groups and maintains strong relationships with 30 partner hospitals. Victory Junction's mission is to provide life-changing camping experiences that are exciting, fun and empowering, in a safe and medically-sound environment. As a not-for-profit organization, the camp operates solely through the support of generous donors to provide this experience at no charge to children and their families. For more information, visit www.victoryjunction.org.

About Pocono Raceway

"The Tricky Triangle" is host to two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards races each year and has added a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race in 2010. Pocono Raceway's 2.5-mile triangular design makes it truly unique. Pocono is the only track on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Circuit with three turns, three different radii and three variant degrees of banking. All that ensures our fans will enjoy some serious action, meanwhile presenting a competitive challenge to the world's best drivers and their crew chiefs. Pocono strives to create a family atmosphere with increased focus on the Fan Experience. We are Pocono Raceway and this is "The Tricky Triangle".

In business for over 50 years, Pocono Raceway is family-owned and situated in the beautiful Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. We are located within 300 miles of one-third of the US population and within 90 miles of New York City and Philadelphia. Pocono Raceway is and always will be an attractive option for NASCAR and race fans alike.

SOURCE Echo, Inc.