Chris Brady, left, event chairperson, is joined by Wounded Warriors and special guests including: Maj. Ed Pulido; Kirk Bauer, executive director, DS/USA; the Hon. Francis J. Harvey, Secretary of the Army; Cpl. Claudia Mitchell; First Lt. Ryan Kules; and Al Giordano, chief operating officer of the Wounded Warrior Project.

“Honoring America’s Wounded Warriors,” an evening of recognition, was held in mid-October at the Frederick P. Rose Hall at Lincoln Center.

More than 200 guests attended the elegant fundraising event, which featured a reception, dinner, and dancing with music provided by the Julliard Jazz Ensemble. Distinguished speakers included the Secretary of the Army, the Honorable Francis J. Harvey; Christopher Brady, event chairperson and chairman of The Chart Group; Al Giordano, COO, Wounded Warrior Project; and Kirk Bauer, J.D., executive director of Disabled Sports USA.

Wounded Warriors attending the event were individually introduced and recognized for their brave efforts. Service members present were: Staff Sgt. John Jones, Maj. Edward Pulido, Sgt. Christopher Short, Lance Cpl. Aaron Rice, Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Jose Ramos, Sgt. Keith Deutsch, Sgt. 1st Class Denis Viau, First Sgt. Daryl Eddings, Cpl. Claudia Mitchell, Sgt. Edward Wade, Sgt. 1st Class Dean Wagner, First Lt. Ryan Kules, Spec. Corey McGee, and Staff Sgt. Joshua Williams.

DS/USA would like to thank its sponsors, and its friends in New York, for their tremendous fundraising efforts towards the sports rehabilitation of the wounded service personnel.

Photos by Ken Watson	Staff Sgt. Josh Williams, left, Huayra Gomez-Garcia, program assistant for DS/USA, and Sgt. Keith Deutsch enjoy the evening at Lincoln Center.

Have you ever wanted to drive a racecar, head down the strip, win a time trial?

If so, mark your calendar for April 12, when RediAuto Sport is inviting persons with disabilities to compete against racing legends Carol Hollfelder and Lance Magin in a time trial event at Irwindale Speedway, located 20 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. Both Hollfelder and Magin are paraplegics who race professionally using specialized hand controls to shift gears and accelerate/decelerate their vehicles.

The event Victory Lap I, will not only give would-be racers a chance to test their speed, but there will also be exhibits featuring cars customized for disabled drivers, competitions and sporting exhibitions, celebrity appearances, ability information booths and vendors, as well as food booths.

The thrill and excitement of driving fast cars is made possible by RediAuto Sport, which distributes and installs an innovative hand driving system for stick shift automobiles designed for high performance driving. RediAuto Sport’s signature and hand controls enable the driver to operate a five- or six-speed transmission as well as automatic transmissions with a design that’s very intuitive.

The system consists of an accelerator ring mounted to the steering wheel, a lever on the stick shift to control the clutch, and a leather-covered brake lever to replace a push/pull control. The whole system enables the driver to keep both hands on the wheel at all times.

These new systems are designed so that people with disabilities can enjoy the challenge and control of stick shift driving or an automatic.

“RediAuto Sport gave me the ability to drive a stick again. I haven’t driven a stick in 10 years,” said Zach Tapac, who became a quadriplegic in a driving accident.

“Dude, I can’t believe it. This is cooler than anything I’ve done since I’ve been in a chair,” said Steve Bucaro, a motorcycle, truck, and sports car enthusiast, who is also a paraplegic.

RediAuto Sport had its beginnings in 1999 when company president Daniel Reyes was injured by a runaway car, resulting in the amputation of his right leg.

The owner of a Ferrari 330GT, Reyes was frustrated at not being able to drive it. He researched available conversion equipment, but could find nothing that would work on a high performance car.

In 2004, he traveled to Italy to the Guido Simplex factory, which makes equipment for double amputee Alex Zinardi’s BMW racing team. Reyes arranged to become the exclusive distributor/installer of Guido Simplex equipment in the United States.

The trademark of the product line, according to the company, are the power assisted clutches. Without them, it would be impossible for a disabled person to drive a car with a manual transmission. Now they can drive Lotus, Ford GTs, older model Ferraris and Porsches, Jaguars, and Mercedes, to name a few. Recently, Bucaro took a 2007 Jeep Wrangler to the annual SEMA (Specialty Equipment Marketing Association) expo in Las Vegas to showcase its customization, including the RediAuto Sport controls, a two-inch suspension, 33-inch BFG tires, 17 KMC-inch wheels, and Kicker audio system.

Complementing the power assisted clutches are the acceleration rings. These rings allow a person to keep a hand on the steering wheel, controlling the gas, while using the right hand to shift.

Since these controls have become available, professional racecar driver Hollfelder retrofitted all of her personal automobiles, including a 1984 Ferrari Mondial Cabriolet, with the RediAuto Sport Total Hands Driving System.

“I get lots of emails every week from people who want to know where they can get hand controls for a manual transmission, and I’m happy to tell them they are now available,” she said.

“I’ve known about this type of hand control for a number of years, and I had a vehicle with specialized controls, but there was no one in this country that could offer support. What makes it special is that it allows the driver to shift smoothly, safely, and consistently.”

After a motorcycle accident at age 18 resulted in paraplegia, Hollfelder had to give up equestrian competition. Instead, she targeted the sports car racing circuit. She was a member of the Tiger Racing team, and competed on the SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT Championship circuit. She also is a former spokeswoman for Ford Mobility Motoring. Hollfelder recently placed second in the SU class at the National Auto Sports Association (NASA) Championship Sept. 18, at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

“I’ve been racing with custom controls, which are not applicable for a street car,” she said. “My father designed brake controls for my race car, but nothing that could be applied across the board.”

Hollfelder noted that she and her husband, who also is a professional driver, are in the new car market for a personal vehicle, and they wanted a car that they could both use. Now, with RediAuto Sport hand controls, that is possible.

Lance Magin agrees with Hollfelder that the new controls will open up a world of opportunity to disabled drivers. “The Irwindale event will show people what is available to them. They don’t have to be stuck in a sedan or van anymore,” he said.

Magin became a paraplegic after breaking his back in a motorcycle racing event. Although he came back within a year to race in the Baja 100 using hand controls, he took almost a 10-year hiatus from racing, due to depression, and a dependency on drugs and alcohol.

After a friend asked him, “What would your rather do, race, or party?”, he chose racing and hasn’t looked back since.

“I got into shape. I became clean and sober and I became aware of wheelchair sports,” he said. “In 1984, I saw wheelchair tennis played as an exhibition sport at the Olympic games. I played tennis in high school and I thought I could do that. In 1986, I beat the number one wheelchair player in the world.

“To be alive again and focus on abilities and all the different things I could do, it opened the door to life again,” he reflected. “It’s not your level of disability. It’s your level of ability.”

Magin became the first paraplegic licensed to drive in NASCAR, with his Ford-supported team. He has also won his class in the Best in the Desert Racing Series.

In 2005, Magin became acquainted with Reyes at an abilities expo, where Magin was appearing on behalf of Ford Motor Co. He was floored by the controls RediAuto offered. Magin soon became a spokesman for RediAuto.

“Daniel’s products are very unique,” he said. “Although hand controls for cars have been available for 50 or 60 years, these controls give the user the ability to drive a high performance sports car, a muscle car, or almost any other vehicle.”

“Being able to shift a manual transmission is huge, in my eyes,” he said. “When I took it to Willow Springs International Raceway, I could pass a Corvette, and be cool and be competitive. I can be all these with hand controls,” he said.

Magin soon hopes to open a driving school in California for people with disabilities, particularly those who are paralyzed, and to teach them how to get back into the car of their dreams.

“Anything’s possible, you just have to figure out how to do it,” he said. “For me, I focus on my abilities, not my disabilities.”

The Hartford Ski Spectacular, the nation’s largest winter sports festival for disabled athletes, is marking its 19th year Dec. 3-10 at Breckenridge, Colo. Disabled Sports USA (DS/USA) will welcome over 700 participants, instructors, volunteers, and more than 100 special guests to the mountainside, including severely injured and their family members from the Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project.

The Hartford Ski Spectacular offers a variety of programs to its visitors. Beginners learn skiing, snowboarding, and Nordic skiing, while advanced skiers compete in Elite/USSA Level II races in slalom and giant slalom. In addition, the Professional Ski Instructors of America (PSIA) offer a number of continuing education clinics through its National Adaptive Academy. Capping off the week’s activities is the Corporate Challenge Team Race, a competition pairing able-bodied and disabled skiers.

Other festivities include the opening banquet, a casino night fundraiser and silent auction, a ladies’ appreciation night, and a closing banquet with a live auction following.

New to The Hartford Ski Spectacular this year: the USSA Level 1 Coaches Clinic, a two-day course, presented by Kevin Jardine, former head coach for the U.S. Disabled Ski Team; Developing a Mentor Program, which is a DS/USA Youth Sports Mentoring Program aimed at creating and sustaining meaningful and productive relationships between youth and adults with disabilities within the DS/USA chapter network; How to Mentor, a workshop which provides the mentors with basic concepts and tools to enhance mentoring relationships. The DS/USA mentoring programs are sponsored by the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation anf the Daniels Fund.

Plus, two scholarship opportunities are offered to participate in the Mid-Level Development race camp program. The Diana Golden Fund Youth Athlete Scholarship targets skiers under age 20 who are trying to push themselves to the next level. The second scholarship is available to a service member who wants to participate in the race camp.

The Hartford Ski Spectacular is made possible by the title sponsor, The Hartford Insurance Company; a partnership with the Wounded Warrior Project; and support from our sponsors: the Non Commissioned Officers Association (NCOA), Breckenridge Ski Resort, Beaver Run Resort, Professional Ski Instructors of America, Department of Veterans Affairs, Schwartz Communications, Inc., Genatt Associates, DS/USA host chapter Breckenridge Outdoor Education, and DS/USA contributing chapters Adaptive Adventures, National Sports Center for the Disabled, DS/USA New England, Challenge Alaska, Challenge Aspen, and Ability Plus, Inc.

“Our philosophy is that we really want to be a part of amputees’ lives to help them accomplish their goals. I have been told hundreds of times I can’t do something, because I am an amputee. We want to be a company that can provide solutions. We can be the life form of technology you need.”

Frye’s dedication to sharing his technology to help others attain their goals meant giving up his Telemark racing career to spend time on the development of the knee. “I was told, when I started racing, that I had the potential to be the best in the world. But I knew that glory would last maybe two or three years. I wanted to do something more lasting, that makes me proud, and that can help others.”

“It makes me very happy when amputees send me videos and pictures of them doing things that I was told would never be possible.”

“My vision is to revolutionize the world of prosthetics,” he said. “I want to design and build prosthetics that will make it possible for amputees to do things like anyone else.”