Borrowing a Bit of Inspiration at Speed

2014 Canadian Formula 1600 Super Series Champion
Chase Pelletier with Caleb Smith

Cambridge, ON - September 19, 2014
Photo via Kayleigh Hilborn

Do the accomplishments of those in motorsport inspire others to reach for more and reach out to others?  It's a question very worth exploring.

Has Austin Riley inspired others to try racing as a therapy for their children dealing with Autism?  Has Race2Recovery inspired the creation of motorsport teams for wounded soldiers in other countries?  Did the "4Tommy" decal improve the lives of children dealing with cancer?

The answer is a resounding yes!

Austin Riley's story has inspired three other local families to take up kart racing to help their children with Autism.  Riley himself probably already owns a world record between his 3 Championships, his position on the Energy Corse factory team, his graduation from Skip Barber Race School, and his position as a Lotus F1 Junior Development Driver.  Other parents around the world are taking their children to kart tracks hoping that the magic that Austin has found will work for their children too.  He now has worldwide support and a huge global fan base, considering he's a 15-year-old kart racer in Ontario, Canada.

Race2Recovery has inspired a number of new race teams in several countries, including a group (JSR/Soldier On) in Canada  working to put together a road course endurance race team patterned after R2R's model that mixes motorsport experts with currently serving and retired military.  Beyond racing, members of R2R are involved in other sporting events from the Paralympics to the Invictus Games.  Many people with disabilities have been inspired by R2R's accomplishments to go out and try whatever it is they want to do from motorsport to rugby to mountain climbing.

While not as direct, the "4Tommy" campaign played a small part in the choice of the Austin Hatcher Foundation as the official charity of the now defunct American LeMans Series.  It was the influence of helping children going through cancer treatment along with other factors that brought the ALMS to the decision to choose a charity that supports children with cancer.

In the next couple of weeks, we'll be featuring a new story on the blog about 2014 Canadian Formula 1600 Super Series Champion Chase Pelletier.  We've talked a bit about Chase already, but not in great detail.  Chase has been racing his entire career with the double challenge of managing Type 1 Diabetes while also working hard to beat the competition.  One of the important aspects of his off-track life is Chase's support for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.  On September 28, 2014, Chase will be participating in 'The Run to Type None' at Professor's Lake in Brampton, Ontario.

In July at the Honda Indy Toronto, Chase met a young four year-old fellow T1 diabetic named Caleb Smith.  As a result of the connection that Chase and Caleb forged, Caleb is going to try the 5km run along with Chase on September 28th.  Chase, as well as fellow diabetic IndyCar driver Charlie Kimball, have both had a huge and inspiring impact on Caleb's attitude towards having diabetes and his adjustment to being diagnosed with diabetes at age 3.  In fact, someday Caleb wants to follow in Charlie Kimball's and Chase Pelletier's tire tracks and become a race car driver.

In the meantime, Caleb will have to settle for beating Chase on foot while raising funds for the JDRF.  However, don't take our word for it.  Here's Caleb's own diabetes story as dictated to his mother for his fundraising page for 'The Run to Type None'.

If all of these great stories aren't enough to convince you that there is Inspiration At Speed, we haven't done a good enough job of telling these amazing stories.

Help Find These Special Helmets!

Cambridge, ON - September 9, 2014
Photos via Jason Cherry & Racing With Autism

There are some posts that just make your insides turn and this is one of them, unfortunately.

Sometime in the last 24 hours, thieves broke into the race hauler for Racing With Autism and stole both of Austin Riley's helmets and the team's laptop with all their race setup and data on it.  It's a crippling blow to a young man that has struggled so hard to get to where he is.

While both the laptop and the helmets can be replaced with new ones, the memories associated with those two helmets can't be replaced, nor can the data on the laptop.

You see, Austin was wearing one of those helmets the day Brooke and I met him.  He was wearing one of those helmets when he met retired Formula One driver Rubens Barrichello.  He was wearing one of those helmets when he became the first driver with Autism to graduate from Skip Barber Race School.  Austin was wearing one of those helmets when he won one of his championships.  The top picture for this post is a special photo taken when Austin met Jason Cherry of the Pirelli World Challenge Series.  Jason supports the American Autism Society and has a brother on the Autism spectrum.

Those helmets aren't just race helmets.  They are a treasure trove of special memories for a young man that needs those memories far more than most of us do.  Those helmets are worth far more to Austin than they could ever be to the thieves that stole them.

It's a cruel and heartless thing to take away a young man's memories like this.  It's like ripping out a part of his soul.  What MUST happen here is that these helmets are found and returned to Austin Riley.

Any other outcome is completely unacceptable and completely unthinkable.

NOTE:  If you have information on these helmets, please contact Racing With Autism.

~Colene~

Awareness is the Key to Understanding

Cambridge, ON - September 6, 2014
Photo - Brooke Legacy

If anyone had told me two years ago that someone with Autism could drive a race car, I would have already been formulating the argument against it in my mind by their second sentence.  I would have argued that there's no way someone with Autism could focus enough, maintain concentration enough, have the proper fine motor skills, or have the hand/eye coordination and reaction times required to drive a race car.

I would have been completely and utterly wrong.  In fact, I would have been so wrong that looking back at how I would have reacted, I'm fine with saying I would have been bigoted and prejudiced.  All I knew about Autism was "The Rain Man" portrayed by Dustin Hoffman.  I had never met anyone with Autism, and I was completely ignorant.

However, I'm extremely happy I was wrong.  Austin Riley taught me that lesson, and he taught it to me in spades.  I met him just over a year ago, and he showed me just how ignorant I was.

The reality is that I'm not alone.  Very few people have the vaguest idea what Autism is or what someone with Autism can do.  It's those people that Austin Riley and his father Jason are looking to reach with a 2015 "Autism Awareness Tour".  By telling people about Austin, the Riley family hopes to educate people.  They couldn't have picked a better example in Austin or come up with a better idea.

As with all great ideas, it takes money to make something like this cross-country four month tour a reality.  The Riley family has come up with a way to fund the tour and they could use some help.

On September 27, 2014, the "Racing With Autism Team Karting Enduro" will take place at Goodwood Kartways near Stoufville, Ontario.  A maximum of 18 teams of four drivers per team will compete head to head in a 1 1/2 hour Enduro.  The Entry fee is $400 per team.

I don't have hope that Austin will do well in racing.  I KNOW for a fact that he will do well in racing.

I also know that if Austin can teach me how ignorant and bigoted I was just by driving around a track in a kart, then there's no way he can't teach others the same lesson and make the world a better place.

Keep doing great things, Austin.  Keep doing great things.

Austin's Story

Anything You Can Do I Can Do Too

Cambridge, ON - August 18, 2014
Photo via NationalSpeedSportNews.com

This past Saturday night at Jefferson Speedway in South Dakota, Isaac Schreurs set a new motorsport record, becoming the first paraplegic driver to win a major 'A' Main Sprint Car race.  Schreurs led the 25 lap race flag to flag.  Sprint Car racing is a tough and demanding form of racing, so Schreurs has accomplished quite the feat with this win.  Schreurs lost the use of his legs 7 years ago at age 14.

Also, our friend Austin Riley was featured on Toronto, Ontario's Global News this past weekend.  Here's the link to the News Video.  When Austin's father Jason says that Austin will steal a piece of your heart and you'll never get it back, he's telling the absolute truth.  Austin owns a  piece of our hearts here at Inspiration At Speed.

Some other news from the last week comes to us from our friends at Race2Recovery over in the United Kingdom.  First, R2R co-founder Tony Harris and 2014 Dakar Rally-Raid finisher Daniel 'Baz' Whittingham will be representing the U.K. in next months Invictus Games.  You can get more information on the Games at their WEBSITE..  The REALLY great news was the unveiling of the new livery for one of the R2R Wildcats. This is the moment where we indulge in a little 'car porn'.  The photo of Gordon in his new livery comes to us courtesy of R2R.

Finally, we'd like to give a shout out to the blog of former R2R PR and Social Media Guru Deborah Harrison.  She's started a blog about occupational therapy in mental health and posted this week about the value of motorsport as a recovery therapy.  She was kind enough to include us in that post, for which we are very appreciative.  She raises an important point in her blog post on motorsport as a Recovery Tool that we can't argue with.  That point is that motorsport can be an incredibly powerful tool for recovery from physical trauma, physical injury, and mental health issues.  You can read her latest post here.

From Mid-Ohio to Morocco They Were Inspiring

Chase Pelletier leads the TCB Class at Mid-Ohio.

Cambridge, ON - August 5, 2014
Photo via Motorsport.com

There were a lot of inspiring folks out this past weekend doing a whole bunch of awesome and inspiring things.  Here's a quick round-up of some of our favourite moments.

Tony Harris moved mountains for himself and other wounded soldiers when he helped to found Row2Recovery and Race2Recovery.  The Dakar Rally-Raid driver decided that rather than move the mountain, this time he'd climb it.  He took on the challenge of climbing Mt. Toubkal in Morocco this past weekend with his wife Liz and raised over 3,000 pounds for Help for Heroes and BLESMA.  That's a 13,671 foot climb.  He's still able to take donations for the climb.  If you'd like to donate, follow this LINK.

How many Type 1 Diabetic race car drivers competed at Mid-Ohio this past weekend?  Answer - Two.  The first, and most well known, is IndyCar driver Charlie Kimball who finished 7th after a cut and slice drive through the field from 17th place.  The second driver is a less well known young man that Charlie Kimball mentored from Brampton, Ontario named Chase Pelletier.  We met Chase at the Honda Indy Toronto a few weeks ago.  Chase took the pole and the win in the Pirelli World Challenge TCB class over veteran driver John Heinricy (Yes, THAT John Heinricy).  Chase normally races Formula 1600's (Formula Fords).  He was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes 9 years ago, and he has been inspired and helped along by the inroads forged by Charlie Kimball.

We're also going to throw out an honourable mention to a fantastic young man that's out there spreading a great message.  Eighteen year-old Jason Cherry competes under the banner of the American Autism Society in the Pirelli World Challenge TCA class.  He's a big supporter of Canadian racer Austin Riley, as well as supporting Autism Awareness, because Cherry's older brother is on the Autism spectrum.  Cherry made the podium on the weekend at Mid-Ohio while flying the flag for Autism.

That's a quick recap of the weekend's dose of Inspiration at Speed.  We're feeling pretty inspired by it all, how about you?

New Motorsport Record for Race2Recovery

Cambridge, ON - July 31, 2014
Photo via Race2Recovery

Race2Recovery, the British Rally-Raid team that holds the only back to back finishes in the world by a disability team in the Dakar Rally-Raid, have set another motorsport record.

Last weekend the team took part in the fourth round of the MSA British Cross Country Championship with driver Olaf Jones and co-driver Yanto Evans.  Jones is an above the elbow left arm amputee and Evans is a below the right knee amputee.  They set a record as the first disabled pair of competitors to complete a lap of the event in Radnor Forest in Wales.  This makes them the first fully disabled team to complete a lap of an MSA BCCC event.

While the team did not complete the event due to a roll over caused by a mechanical failure in a wheel, they made history in more ways that one.

The MSA had to be lobbied by Race2Recovery co-founder Anthony Harris in order to allow both amputees to compete in the same vehicle, because the MSA had a policy that prevented two disabled competitors from being in the same vehicle at the same time.  Harris successfully argued that if both Jones and Evans were able to pass the BARS assessment that both should be able to compete in the same vehicle in an MSA event without prejudice.

Motorsport sanctioning bodies around the world should be paying close attention to this particular decision by the MSA.  More and more competitors are showing up to register for amateur and professional motorsport events around the world with a variety of physical and mental health challenges ranging from paralysis to Autism.  If those competitors can meet the same requirements as any other competitor, there is no reason or excuse to exclude them from competition.

Congratulations to Race2Recovery on their new record and on successfully lobbying to change a regulation in favour of more fair, inclusive, and equitable competition.  Cheers to the MSA for agreeing to follow good sense and logic in allowing Jones and Evans to compete together under the R2R banner.

Dreams Do Come True

Cambridge,ON - July 29, 2014
Photo via Racing With Autism

The distance between Goodwood Kartways in Uxbridge, Ontario and Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia is a lot more than just geographical.  One is a regional karting track that has a storied past and has seen many a Canadian race car driver through its gates and on its pavement.  The other is an internationally recognized road course track that has been raced on by the best drivers in the world.

Today, it's a very special place for 15 year old Austin Riley of Racing With Autism.  Austin will start a 3 day race school put on by Skip Barber.  While kids do race schools all the time, Austin is on the Autism spectrum.  Although he has 3 Championships in karting from Goodwood, he's never driven a proper race car on a road course track before.  Driving a race car has been a dream of Austin's since he began racing karts at age 7.

Almost a year ago, we met Austin at Goodwood Kartways.  That day, we were convinced he would someday climb the racing ladder and race a car.  We knew he had it in him to be a racer at a higher level than karts.

"Just because you have Autism, it doesn't mean you can't do great things." - Austin Riley

We couldn't agree more Austin.  Best of luck to you at Road Atlanta!

Welcome to Inspiration At Speed

Cambridge, ON - July 28, 2014

Many of you will be familiar with this series of articles from In The Pits Media and CBS Sports' In The Pits Racing Radio.  For the first year of its life the series lived on In The Pits Media's website.  I'm very grateful to ITPM for hosting the series in its first year, but there is so much more that can be done with the series.  We've moved it over to its own independent blog, which provides us with many new opportunities.  While the series will continue to be published on ITPM's website, this blog presents the opportunity to expand on the series and the people featured in the series.

First, we can now provide regular updates on the events and people featured in the series via the News Page of this blog.  That means we can tell you when one of our 'inspiring stories' is racing somewhere, how they do at the events they race at, and what news and announcements they have about their racing activities.  It also means we can create a Twitter account for the series, a Facebook Page, and make use of other social media to spread the continuing stories of inspiration we write and care about.

We're still working on more stories, as there are so many stories out there that need to be told.  They are from different parts of the globe, and it takes time to put those special and unique stories together.  As it sits now, we have two stories in the works, with one waiting for an approval to release and another ready to be researched and written.

We hope that when you're in need of a heartwarming story, a story to encourage you to continue on facing whatever challenge you're dealing with, or you just want to read a feel good story that you'll check us out.

We hope you'll agree with us.  There is 'Inspiration At Speed.'

Colene & Brooke