The world of stock car racing might be focused on making left turns this weekend in Joliet, but the NASCAR community will make an additional pit stop Monday, July 14 night in Lombard as one of racing’s most famous families will be riding into town.

Participants in the 14th annual Kyle Petty Charity Ride will make their stop at the Westin Hotel, 70 Yorktown Center, Lombard, with a welcoming party that begins at 4:30 p.m.

Petty said the ride has made stops in downtown Chicago and Springfield in previous years. But he likes to stay in smaller, suburban towns like Lombard instead of larger cities because of the bigger impact it will have.

“Our event won’t get lost in the shuffle,” Petty said. “We try to be the talk of the town, not only for that particular day, but for a long time afterward.”

Lombard Village President William Mueller said the village was contacted earlier this year by event organizers who were interested in staying in Lombard. He said he is excited to welcome the riders, which will include Kyle Petty; his father, NASCAR legend Richard Petty; former running back Herschel Walker; and supermodel Niki Taylor.

“One of my responsibilities as a village official is being a cheerleader for the community,” Mueller said. “It’s a great way to put us on the map again.”

The ride benefits a camp for children with chronic illnesses. The camp initially was the idea of Kyle’s son Adam, Petty said. Adam, who was a fourth-generation driver in the Petty family, had visited a similar camp in Florida and knew he wanted to start his own.

But in May 2000, Adam was killed while practicing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and never saw his idea come to fruition.

“After his accident, I got together with my wife, Pattie; my son Austin; and my daughter, Montgomery Lee, and we decided that this would be the best way to honor Adam, and we built the Victory Junction Gang Camp,” Petty said.

More than $1 million is raised during the 3,000-mile, two-week ride that takes more than 200 riders from Traverse City, Mich., to Savannah, Ga. The money goes directly to the camp for operating costs and scholarships for children to attend the camp.

“The kids that come to our facility do things that they may not have somewhere else,” said Dean Kessel, president of the Victory Junction Gang Camp.

Kessel said they serve more than 120 children a week and 4,000 a year at the racing-themed camp that provides children with chronic illnesses the chance for fun and self-confidence at no cost to the families.

“We try to help make children with chronic or life-threatening illnesses feel like normal kids,” Petty said. “If they leave here with that Adam Petty smile, then we know that we have done our job and that Adam was with us through the whole journey.”