H
HardScrabble
Guest
This is the very first I had seen of this team and its challenge to join the Goody's Dash series. Good Luck to them.
CHESAPEAKE, VA (Oct. 16, 2002) - The NASCAR Goody's Dash Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway is fast approaching and the Pioneer Racing team is busy preparing the number 10 and 01 cars for competition. The team is composed of series veteran Danny Bagwell and Dash series rookie Ray Paprota. The two will be testing this weekend in order to get Paprota as many laps in the car before he races his way into the history books as the first paraplegic to compete in a NASCAR Touring Series event.
The final event for the NASCAR Goody's Dash Series 2002 season is the NASCAR Goody's Dash Georgia Pacific 150 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on October, 25. The Dash Series will race before a packed Atlanta Motor Speedway immediately following the Winston Cup qualifying session.
The October 5th test at Atlanta Motor Speedway went well and was a great shakedown for the totally new race car. Paprota, who lost the use of his legs as a result of a spinal cord injury, drives and shifts the four speed manual transmission with the help of a unique set of hand controls mounted to the steering wheel. The hand controls and clutch modifications worked great and the team will now work on getting Ray as comfortable as possible in the seat. The Atlanta test indicated a need to adjust the seating location and this requires moving the seat back and standing it up a little. They will also switch to a smaller steering wheel to provide a little better visibility and this will require modifying the hand controls to fit the new wheel.
Following the test the team tore down and thoroughly inspected the new Wilson Bagwell powerplant. Now that the engine is broken in a bit, Wilson will work on tweaking the last few ponies out of the Ford powerplant. The team has worked a great deal on ingress and egress and is very confident in Ray's abilities in that respect and have taken every step available when it comes to safety.
Pioneer Racing will have the Travel Club International as a sponsor on their cars quarter panels but are still seeking primary sponsor support to come on board the hood and rear bumper cover. The media exposure for this historic event is promising and Ray hopes that a sponsor with the same forward vision will see the value that is inherent in what the team is achieving. When asked what's left to do before the race, Ray replied "The hard part is done. Now I just have to go out and prove my ability on the race track."
CHESAPEAKE, VA (Oct. 16, 2002) - The NASCAR Goody's Dash Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway is fast approaching and the Pioneer Racing team is busy preparing the number 10 and 01 cars for competition. The team is composed of series veteran Danny Bagwell and Dash series rookie Ray Paprota. The two will be testing this weekend in order to get Paprota as many laps in the car before he races his way into the history books as the first paraplegic to compete in a NASCAR Touring Series event.
The final event for the NASCAR Goody's Dash Series 2002 season is the NASCAR Goody's Dash Georgia Pacific 150 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on October, 25. The Dash Series will race before a packed Atlanta Motor Speedway immediately following the Winston Cup qualifying session.
The October 5th test at Atlanta Motor Speedway went well and was a great shakedown for the totally new race car. Paprota, who lost the use of his legs as a result of a spinal cord injury, drives and shifts the four speed manual transmission with the help of a unique set of hand controls mounted to the steering wheel. The hand controls and clutch modifications worked great and the team will now work on getting Ray as comfortable as possible in the seat. The Atlanta test indicated a need to adjust the seating location and this requires moving the seat back and standing it up a little. They will also switch to a smaller steering wheel to provide a little better visibility and this will require modifying the hand controls to fit the new wheel.
Following the test the team tore down and thoroughly inspected the new Wilson Bagwell powerplant. Now that the engine is broken in a bit, Wilson will work on tweaking the last few ponies out of the Ford powerplant. The team has worked a great deal on ingress and egress and is very confident in Ray's abilities in that respect and have taken every step available when it comes to safety.
Pioneer Racing will have the Travel Club International as a sponsor on their cars quarter panels but are still seeking primary sponsor support to come on board the hood and rear bumper cover. The media exposure for this historic event is promising and Ray hopes that a sponsor with the same forward vision will see the value that is inherent in what the team is achieving. When asked what's left to do before the race, Ray replied "The hard part is done. Now I just have to go out and prove my ability on the race track."