NHRA News: McClenathan and Gwynn headline 12th annual Motorsports Day (7/7/2004)

McClenathan and Gwynn headline 12th annual Motorsports Day

7/7/2004

Cory McClenathan

Craig Hospital will host its 12th annual Motorsports Day from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Wednesday, July 14, in the vicinity of Girard and S. Clarkson streets in Englewood, Colo. The purpose of this annual event is to provide current and former patients with an opportunity to view world-class automobiles, vehicles modified for drivers with disabilities, and to meet celebrity guests. Admission is free, and an outdoor BBQ lunch is $6 and will be served between 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Nearly 200 collector vehicles will be on display at Craig Hospital, including street rods, antique restorations, race cars, muscle cars, and vehicles for persons with disabilities. Included in the collection will be the Carrier Boyz/Berryman Products Top Fuel dragster driven by Cory McClenathan.

Currently seventh in the points with one win, McClenathan is one of the sports most victorious drivers. He has 32 career victories (28 in Top Fuel and four in Top Alcohol Dragster) and is ranked fifth on the NHRA all time Top Fuel win list. On May 16th of this year, McClenathan won the Southern Nationals in Atlanta and in mid-May advanced to the runner-up position at the NHRA event in Englishtown, N.J. McClenathan was the first driver, in 1992, to cover the quarter mile in 4.7 seconds. He was also the first driver in NHRA history to exceed 320 mph for the quarter-mile. His personal-best presently is 332.10 mph in 4.463 seconds.

Maurice Blankenship will be present from Berryman Products and Andy Carrier from the Carrier Boyz Race team. Included in their display will be the Carrier Boyz Racing state-of-the-art Featherlite trailer which is making its debut at the NHRA Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colo.

Sunrise Medical, manufacturer of Quickie wheelchairs, will donate a power wheelchair to Jo Donlin, a quadriplegic. Darrell Gwynn, former Top Fuel racer paralyzed in an injury in 1990, and his father Jerry Gwynn will assist in the presentation.

Other things to see include a display by General Motors Mobility of Ann Arbor, Mich., who will have a lift-equipped demo van for patients, families, and staff to explore; Ms. Jenny Siegle, Miss Wheelchair Colorado will be present; Dan Soloman and Norm Nicoley will have a car on display from the Denver Grand Prix; and there will be a drawing for two passes to Friday night qualifying at the 25th annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway.

Additionally, Randy Snow will be present. Snow is the most celebrated wheelchair athlete of all time. As a paraplegic, Snow is a three-time Paralympian in three different sports in three different Olympics, and the only wheelchair athlete to ever be inducted into the Olympic Hall of Fame. Darrell Gwynn and Randy will do a motivational presentation to patients at 2 pm in the Craig Hospital gymnasium.

Craig Hospital is one of the world's leading rehabilitation and research centers for spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury, and is designated by the National Institute of Disability Rehabilitation & Research (NIDRR) as a Model Systems Center for Spinal Cord Injury and Traumatic Brain Injury. Since 1956, Craig Hospital has treated approximately 24,000 patients with spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury, more than any other single U.S. facility. In 2003, Craig Hospital treated patients from 48 U.S. states and several foreign countries. Craig Hospital has been ranked in the Top 10 Rehabilitation Hospitals in the country for fourteen consecutive years, since the rankings began, by US News and World Report.

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