Racing News

Ashley Fiolek: Silence on Dirt Tracks

2008-10-08T20:17:00Z

Looking at Ashley Fiolek, you wouldn't know she was a speed demon. You wouldn't know that this teenager with the girl-next-door face loves to tear up the dirt. But she is and she does.

From an early age, motor oil seemed to course through her veins. She's been riding motorcycles most of her life and racing them since she was 7 years old. Since winning her first race, the 2004 AMA Amateur National Championships, she's won more than 100 races and racked up 12 more national first-place trophies.

Fiolek is not the type to sit on her laurels. She has goals to attain. She wants to be the fastest woman motocross racer in history, and she's well on her way to doing that.

Making History
Fiolek went professional in 2006 at the Women's Motocross Association (WMA) in Steel City, PA. She came in fifth place, not a small feat for a relative new-comer to professional racing. In 2008, she won the Women’s Motocross Association championship.

And, as if that weren't enough to excite any athlete, she's just been nominated for the Sportswoman of the Year award. That puts her in line to join such legends as Mary Lou Retton and Martina Navratilova. This year (2008) there are nine other contenders for the coveted award, including Olympic Gold Medalist Veronica Campbell-Brown. Not a bad crowd to be hanging around with, is it?

Living Without Hearing
All of this would seem a reasonable course of events for anyone who wants to race motorcycles professionally. But Fiolek is different from most. She was born deaf. That puts her at a disadvantage she's had to learn to compensate for in many aspects of her life. And she has.

One example is interviews. All athletes have to conduct them. It's one of the ways they get the public interested in them. But what makes Fiolek's interviews stand out is how they are conducted—through sign language, with her father acting as interpreter.

Racing Techniques
In a sense you might call Fiolek a dirt whisperer, but her language is comprised of hand signs and feelings in place of words and sounds. Rather than listening to the sounds on the track—a good way to know when competitors are breathing down your tailpipe—she watches the track and constantly checks the position of other racers, and she waits to feel her bike. Sometimes that causes her to lag behind longer than other racers would, but she always makes up for it in the end. She shifts gears when her bike tells her to, using the feel of the engine as a guide rather than its sound.

Benefits of a Racing Career
Athletes with disabilities sometimes have difficulty attracting sponsorship from mainstream companies. If you doubt that, an examination of the history of sponsors of the Paralympics would be an eye-opener. Fiolek, in comparison, has had little trouble attracting money from the “Big Boys.“ She's backed by companies like Red Bull, Honda, and Pirelli.

Racing, says Fiolek, has allowed her to expand her exposure to the world. She's travelled all across the United States, developing many close relationships along the way. She's even travelled to Japan to race twice. Most of us have never envisioned being able to visit the "Land of the Rising Sun" even once, never mind going there twice.

Racing in a Chicken Coop

2008-09-30T16:13:00Z

In June of 1990, racing history was made when a chicken coop was transformed into a ferocious, pavement-tearing bullet. To make the event even more interesting to race fans, the former fowl home was driven by a man who many thought would never be able to get behind the wheel of a car.

"Doc" Lavinder was 2 1/2 years old when he was diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. Throughout his life, like many people with disabilities, he was told to be "realistic" about the goals he set for himself. He was told he'd never be able to drive. To the son of a race car mechanic the proclamations, by doctors and therapists, felt like knives in the chest. He was determined to surpass all expectations and live the life he dreamed.

One of the major milestones in a man's life is getting his license to drive. While most people acquire that sacred document in their teens, for Lavinder the milestone was reached late. Though he'd grown up around cars, he didn't get his license to drive one until 1986, when he was 27 years old.

It didn't take long for Lavinder to begin searching for his dream car. He accidentally stumbled upon it on a farm he frequently rolled past. A flock of chickens were using it as their home. Rust and chicken dung couldn't hide the machine's sleek lines. He fell in love. Now he could pursue his ultimate goal, racing.

He evicted the machine's tenants, cleaned it up, and began a search to determine what kind of car he had acquired. It turned out to be a rare breed, a 1935 Nash Lafayette Coupe. Using shoe polish as paint, and his off-beat sense of irony, he named it. The Severely Disabled Chicken Coupe was born.

The car was adapted to Lavinder's needs. He was sponsored by R&J Mobility, and they did all his modifications. A swivel and slide driver's seat made transfers from his wheelchair easier. The gear shift and gas pedal with extended. The steering wheel was smaller than most, and had a custom-designed spinner knob.

Lavinder and his Chicken Coupe made their debut in 1990 at the Woodburn Dragstrip's "Oldies But Goodies" race. His career lasted seven years and ended on the anniversary of his first race. It rained that day. The race was cancelled for the first time in its history.

In the Blogs:

Check out these Sexy Smart Cars

Solo Car Racing Gives Access to People with Disabilities

2008-07-24T15:03:00Z

Solo car racing, adapted racing, and sports cars are very available to many people with a disability, thanks to the organization that made solo and adapted racing possible: the Sports Car Club Of America (SCCA).

SCCA was founded in 1944 and supports road races, rallies and autocross events all over the country. One of the SCCA's biggest draws is solo racing, a kind of racing where any kind of driver can compete in time-trial competition. Founded in 1968 by the SCCA, solo racing has the driver get into his or her sports car and drive through a paved course with traffic cones surrounding the area. The driver that navigates their sports car through the solo racing track the fastest is the winner.

Solo racing has several primary divisions sanctioned by the SCCA. Solo 1 features the driver racing alone against the clock. Solo 2 merely requires a helmet to race. ProSolo has competition for the top solo racing championship, in which the competitors drive in side by side identical courses, trying to finish with the fastest time. ProSolo has held SCCA national championships since 1973 and now has over 1,000 entrants each year. The SCCA National Tour features solo racing drivers testing their skills in various shows across the country.

Solo drivers can use regular cars, or cars with adaptive controls. These adapted racing cars are how people with a disability can compete in solo racing. The SCCA allows people with disabilities to use adapted racing cars with the help of the United Spinal Association. The two organizations formed a partnership in 2006 to provide drivers with spinal cord injuries and disorders a way to compete in the SCCA solo divisions with adapted race cars.

Several drivers with a disability compete nationally in SCCA solo racing. This includes Jerry Lamb, a United Spinal member who has driven adapted racing cars in professional solo races since the 80's. At the time of SCCA's partnership with United Spinal in 2006, less than a dozen drivers with a disability competed in solo races.

However, those interested can go to SCCA's Web site to find a solo car event in their area and come down to see the action for themselves. If they want to join up, they can apply to driving schools in their local regions. Doug Gill, a SCCA Solo Tech Manager, is available to ask for advice in making precise hand controls for adapted racing cars. He can be contacted at dgill@scca.com. Over 1,000 SCCA events are held each year at local and regional levels, all of which are open for those with disabilities to compete in.

Sources:
United Spinal Association- "Solo Car Racing: Adaptive Sports Just Got Faster"
SCCA Sports Car Club of America
Wikipedia- Sports Car Club of America

See Robert Dougherty's Profile on Disaboom
See Robert Dougherty's Profile on Associated Content

NASCAR Turns Kids with Illnesses Into Happy Campers

2008-07-09T17:07:00Z

In 2004, NASCAR star Kyle Petty and his wife Pattie set out on a mission to put kids with disabilities or serious illnesses on the fast track to embracing their lives. Their racing-themed Victory Junction Gang Camp opened its doors that year in Randleman, N.C., and welcomed children ages 7 to 15 who are in need of a dream-come-true experience and might not be able to attend other camps because of their medical needs.

Kyle and Pattie Petty founded the nonprofit camp to honor their son Adam, who tragically passed away at the age of 20 after his race car crashed on May 12, 2000. According to Victory Junction’s president, Dean Kessel, Adam was the charity’s original driving force.

“Before Adam died, he had a dream of helping kids less fortunate than he was. Pattie and Kyle were working with him on that before he passed, so it was really started with a vision that Adam created,” Kessel said.

The Petty family partnered with actor Paul Newman’s Association of Hole in the Wall Camps - a worldwide organization of camps for seriously ill children - to start their own camp primarily serving kids from North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

Victory Junction accommodates children with more than 24 illnesses and disabilities, including autism, Down syndrome, spina bifida and cancer. Licensed medical volunteers are available during each camp session to ensure the health and safety of the campers.

Victory Junction has hosted almost 10,000 campers since opening in June 2004, Kessel said. That figure includes participants in its weeklong summer sessions focusing on specific illnesses and smaller events such as family retreat weekends held in spring and fall.

Kessel said the camp strives to host as many kids with as many illnesses and disabilities as possible for one simple reason: need.

“Kyle Petty has a saying that he often references when he’s speaking: ‘We could put a camp like this on every corner and still not meet the need,’” he said.

The camp’s kid-pleasing attractions are spread out over 72 acres of land donated by Richard and Lynda Petty and include a water park, theater, accessible lake for fishing and a miniature golf course.

Several NASCAR personalities have contributed attractions to the camp, including Jimmie Johnson’s bowling lanes, Tony Stewart’s maze and Michael Waltrip’s sports center. One of the newest attractions is Kurt Busch’s Superdome. The climate-controlled, domed field allows kids to play kickball, softball and other sports year-round.

Kessel said that during the Superdome’s opening, he was struck by the joy on the faces of parents sitting in the bleachers who watched their kids play kickball for the first time.

All Victory Junction programs are free to campers thanks to contributions from individuals, corporations and foundations. Kessel said that even competing corporations and NASCAR sponsors such as Lowe’s and The Home Depot have collaborated to bring new activities to the camp.

Kessel called the NASCAR community’s support the charity’s “lifeblood,” and he said the efforts to help the Petty family’s cause have been overwhelming.

“This is very much a family sport, and when the call goes out to help another family, it gets answered,” Kessel said. “That’s the magic of NASCAR.”

He recalled the words of one camper’s father during a recent event that brought home the importance of keeping Victory Junction an entertaining pit stop for kids who need an extra boost.

“The father of one of our campers stood up and said it’s the one time of year that his child is the envy of the other kids – because he gets to come to our camp,” Kessel said.

In the Blogs:

Check out these Sexy Smart Cars

Father and Son Tandem Work to Create an All-Amputee NASCAR Pit-Crew

2008-06-04T20:43:00Z

The synchronicity of a NASCAR pit-stop can seem alarming; a mad choreography of helmets and flame-retardant suits converging in lightning-quick mechanical precision. In fact, it’s in the pits where many races are won or lost. There, in less than 13 seconds, a crew of four gives a high-performance racing vehicle a tune-up that your local mechanic couldn’t imagine. If Kent and Jason Carliss have their way, two of these teams will soon be composed of highly talented athletes with one distinction from their peers.

They will be missing an arm, or a leg, or both.

Kent, a former car-racing mechanic, has teamed up with his son Jason in an attempt to use their passion for NASCAR as a tool to inspire those with disabilities. The two are the founders of Bound for Glory, a program whose goal is to train and organize an all amputee pit-crew to participate in NASCAR races. The idea was conceived by Kent in 1968, after a life-changing experience he had with an amputee.

At the time, Kent was more down on his luck than he’d ever been. His business was performing poorly and his marriage was on the rocks, leading him to a rough spell of substance abuse and depression.

“I was drinking and business was going sour and racing wasn’t what it used to be,” Kent said about his life at the time. “I had given serious consideration to taking my life.”

One day, despondent and resigned to suicide, Kent hauled a case of beer to a convenience store counter believing it would be the last he’d ever drink. But before he left, he had a dramatic change of heart.

In front of him at the checkout was a man with a bi-lateral amputation. Kent watched the man buy a soda and hop in his car, taking off down the road with one foot guiding the steering wheel. Something about the stranger’s uncanny sense of optimism in the face of difficulty had a dramatic effect on him.

“It was like getting hit by a lightning bolt,” Kent said. “I thought if this guy can be happy and be a productive member of society, then there’s no reason I can’t.”

Four decades later, the Carliss family is attempting to repay the favor. They believe that Bound for Glory could be an inspiration to the millions by showcasing the athletic potential of athletes with disabilities. “This is one of the most competitive athletic endeavors there will ever be,” said Jason about working on the pit-crew, whose physical duties include changing tires, re-fueling, and making other mechanical adjustments in fewer than thirteen seconds.

While grooming themselves for the racetrack, the crew would travel on the NASCAR show circuit and perform pit-stop exhibitions at military bases, hospitals, and other locations in the country. If everything went as planned, they’d make their debut on the NASCAR circuit within one year. However, before Bound for Glory can set their plan into action, they’re in need of sponsorship money.

Over the last 40 years, Kent has been on the verge of securing funding for the program on numerous occasions, but things have consistently fallen through at the last minute. Most recently, Bound for Glory conducted a pilot run with racing giant Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI) at the DEI headquarters in Mooresville, North Carolina. The team—four amputee athletes without any pit-crew experience—observed a professional crew at work before training under the tutelage of pit-crew chief Walt Smith.

Although the athletes performed admirably and DEI showed genuine interest, the company eventually passed on the venture due to re-branding and internal restructuring. Once again, Kent and Jason found themselves without sponsorship.

“I feel like I’m butting my head against a stone wall,” said Kent. “I don’t know how many times I’ve been close. I’ve never looked at this as a moneymaking deal, just as payback for a guy who saved my life.”

But, despite the disappointment, the Carliss’s are still optimistic that Bound for Glory has the potential to not only be competitive, but to become one of the elite pit-crews on the NASCAR circuit. “If we get the right athletes with the right determination and mindset then it’s going to be a hard combination to beat, and that’s what is truly exciting,” Jason said.

In the Blogs:

Check out these Sexy Smart Cars

Racing and Disability: Firing on All Cylinders

2008-05-07T17:35:00Z

When Ray Paprota was in rehab in 1984 after breaking his back in a car accident, he was approached by a group of hard-core athletes recruiting for wheelchair sports. Despite his athletic background, Ray wasn't interested.

"I remember thinking at the time that I would never hang out with them, because I was going to walk again. I had that whole denial thing going on," Ray said.

But, the athletes wouldn't take no for an answer. They eventually persuaded Ray to come out to a wheelchair-basketball practice, and soon he excelled at the sport. He credits his immersion in athletics to introducing him to a culture of activeness that motivated him for years to come.

In addition to playing professional wheelchair basketball, Ray also competed in powerlifting and tennis. In 1993, he moved to Birmingham, Alabama, where he and a fraternity of wheelchair athletes took advantage of a new world-class facility to polish their skills for the 1996 Paralympic Games. According to Ray, they trained non-stop. "We were so hard-headed that when we were done training, we'd come home, take showers, and then go back out and hit balls until the sun went down."

However, weeks before the Paralympic basketball team was to be selected, Ray tore his rotator cuff and couldn't compete. With his athletic career on hold, he began to hang out with a group of friends who were heavily involved in auto racing. Ray had always had a passion for the sport, and now that he couldn't participate in athletics, he was in need of another medium to channel his competitive spirit.

After working in car maintenance and mechanics, Ray got behind the wheel. He and his crew designed a pair of hand controls that allowed him to shift and press the gas without using his legs, and soon Ray became a successful driver on the Legends Series. His driving caught the attention of former Winston Cup Champion Bobby Allison and NASCAR crew chief George White. Then longtime NASCAR racer Danny Bagwell offered to lend Ray equipment and support-enabling him to compete in the Goody's Dash Series.

On October 25, 2002 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Ray became the first paraplegic to compete in a NASCAR Touring Series event. He went on to race close to the full season in 2003. In 2004-thanks to a last-minute sponsorship by the home accessibility company FastTracks-Ray became the first and only physically challenged driver to qualify for and compete at the Daytona International Super Speedway. "For a guy who's always been a race fan, that's Mecca, that's the place you dream to race," he said about Daytona.

But for all his accomplishments in athletics and auto-sports, it's his work with children with disabilities that Ray is most proud of.

In 1997, Ray founded Little Slicks, "a hands-on program committed to teaching physically challenged children about the tools, teamwork, and technology that is auto racing." The program started by teaching kids the basics of auto mechanics, but soon the participants wanted to get behind the wheel. "Before you know it we had a racetrack set up in the back of the shop and kids were competing against each other in go-carts and it was just a really dynamic and fun thing to do," he says.

In contributing to the lives of these children, Ray Paprota is giving back to the disability community that gave so much to him. He paints the culture of auto-racing as a fraternal brotherhood, where he and his teammates work long hours for little pay, but revel in the camaraderie that accompanies their work. But the biggest reward for Ray is the potential for his work with children with disabilities to provide the same inspiration that a group of wheelchair basketball players did for him close to 25 years ago.

"I know there's going to be a kid with a physical disability that is someday going to be a big time race-car driver, and I'm just jonesed that I'll have opened doors for him, and that I'll be a piece of that," he said.

On the Right Track

2008-03-31T17:42:00Z

Eric Hardin has always moved fast. Growing up with a family with a passion for fast-paced recreation, Hardin spent his summers jet-skiing and his winters riding motorcycles through the desert hills of Orange County. His interest in cars was sparked at an early age as well. “I was raised in the shop, learning about cars and it was always something I loved,” says Hardin.

Unfortunately, at 12, Hardin was diagnosed with a cancer that started in his lungs, spread to his bones, and came close to taking his life. Hardin endured months of chemotherapy, rendering him bedridden and weak. Doctors told his parents that there was a 70% chance that he wasn’t going to make it past thirteen, but they kept the grim prognosis to themselves.

“Looking back, it was probably a good thing that no one told me any odds,” Hardin says. “I am just lucky that my body responded well to the chemotherapy because there are a lot of people who are less fortunate.”

However, Hardin didn’t make it past the cancer unscathed. In order to save his life, doctors were forced to amputate his right leg. For Hardin, it was a “small price to pay” to get healthy again.

After he healed, Hardin quickly reignited his passion for motor sports. The 13-year-old resumed riding dirt bikes, but the day before his final surgery, he came up short on a jump and broke his femur and his prosthetic leg.

Instead of shying away from motor sports after the accident, Hardin simply changed venues. He convinced his parents that off-road racing was a much safer alternative to motorcycles, and eventually they agreed to finance his desert-racing team. In 1999, six races into his career, Hardin won the Fireworks 250 in Barstow, California. He would go onto finish first at the Henderson 250, Primm 300, and the Baja 500 that season.

From there, Hardin moved on to the NASCAR Super Trucks Series, where he quickly starting racking up top-ten finishes. Once again, his sixth start led him to victory, as he captured the main event at the Irwindale Speedway in 2004. The same year, Hardin won the Super Trucks Rookie of the Year award. The next year he began racing in the NASCAR Camping World Series West, where he competes today.

Hardin currently drives the Direct Shopping Network #5 Chevy Monte Carlo, which has undergone a few modifications for his prosthetic. He had a strap installed in the car to keep his foot on the throttle and give him a better feel for the pedal. According to Hardin, many of the other drivers initially underestimated him because of his prosthetic. However, once he began to make his mark in the series, he started to command more respect. “Once we started running up front, and beating them, then it wasn’t an issue,” he says.

Last year, Hardin finished seventh in the points standing for the Camping World Series West, and on Saturday March 29, he kicked off the season at Roseville, CA, with a seventh place finish. The 25-year -old hopes that this season will be the one that launches his career, and aspires to one day reach the nation-wide Nextel Cup Series. His story has also attracted the attention of many prospective sponsors, although according to manager Ryan Wood, the team is still looking for more partners “We have a great story that we can sell, beating the odds, and pushing for your dream, it’s something that just appeals to the general public,” says Wood.

For information on sponsoring Team Hardin, contact Ryan Wood at rwood@hardin.com