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

Double Video Day - Racing With Autism & Race2Recovery

Cambridge, ON - August 6, 2014

A bit of a rushed day for us at Inspiration At Speed today, as both Racing With Autism and Race2Recovery released videos today.

Race2Recovery released their August 2014 update video.  A couple of notes for this video.  First, congrats on the continued good results in the Freelander Challenge to the team.  Second, two members of the R2R team are taking background positions after being at the forefront of the team for the last few years.  Co-Founder Tony Harris is turning his attention and focus to other areas of his life, although we hope to see him compete in Dakar again.  We'll definitely miss Tony, who is one of the few members of R2R that we've spoken with directly over the years.  R2R's Social Media Coordinator Deb Harrison is also stepping down, which is a huge loss for us at Inspiration At Speed, as Deb has been our lifeline to the team the last two years.  We're looking forward to working with the new Social Media Coordinator and keeping in touch with Deb going forward.  Here's their August Update Video.

Racing With Autism also released a video today that is a chronicle of Austin Riley's adventures at the 3-Day Skip Barber Race School at Road Atlanta last week.  It's without a doubt some of the most important six minutes of your life to watch this video.  You'll get to watch as a young man overcomes Autism to exceed the expectations of everyone around him and learn how to drive a race car.  It's impossible to watch this video and not have your heartstrings tugged on at least a little bit by this incredible young man and his determination to succeed.  As Austin himself says, having Autism doesn't mean he can't do great things!

Austin's Adventures at Skip Barber Race School - Road Atlanta

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