United Spinal Motorsports Seeks Support and Sponshorship

Ask Patty is looking for support from race teams and race car drivers to display the United Spinal Motorsports logo to bring awareness and educate people with disabilities about the opportunity to compete on an equal playing field with able bodied race car drivers in the Sports Car Club of America.

The mission of United Spinal Association’s Motorsports program is to encourage people with disabilities, including individuals who use adaptive automotive equipment, to participate in competitive motorsports. It is also to cultivate partnerships within the motorsports industry in support of the program, thus raising awareness about spinal cord injuries and disorders.

Meet a Motorsports Team Member:
Carol Hollfelder’s interest in cars goes back to her childhood. Cars were and are a family passion. Although Carol has always loved cars, she began competing one horse at a time at the age of nine. She rode hunters and jumpers until she was injured in a motorcycle accident in 1987 at the age of 18. Due to a spinal cord injury, she could no longer compete as an equestrian so she turned her drive for competition towards sportcars.

Racing began with club events at Willow Springs, Riverside Raceway and other historic tracks. Driving courses came first, then club races. Carol began using her street car, a Toyota Supra, in these events. It was an automatic because a decade ago there were no hand controls for a manual transmission. In 1999, Carol won SCCA’s Cal Club Regional Championship in the T1 class. In 2003, she began campaigning a Ford Mustang equipped with Ford’s ASM/SSM transmission out of their Aston Martin Vanquish. She also drives with a brake/throttle system that was designed by her father. Tom Hollfelder. and fabricated by Steele Therkleson, a mechanic on the Le Mans winning 1966-67 Ford GT40 teams.

As a paraplegic, Carol has been faced with many obstacles which the able-bodied never confront. As a result of this, she is extremely interested in issues and research affecting the disabled.

Carol hopes to bring people’s attention to the hand control system that she uses. She hopes to show other people with disabilities that nothing is beyond their reach, not even the ultra competitive world of motorsports. She is also looking ahead in her own driving. Endurance racing with her husband at Daytona is a goal that she looks forward to achieving.

And recently Jody DeVere, Ask Patty President was named the Chairperson of the Motorsports Committee!

Please pass this article along to race teams and drivers you know who might be interested in supporting this wonderful program. Spread the word by writing a post or sending an email note about the United Spinal Motorsports program.

Upcoming Event:
Victory Lap 2007 will be at Irwindale Speedway  in Southern California  on April 12, 2007. You can find more information at Redi Autosport. Come out and show your support!