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The
most moving and inspirational meeting for Stephanie and me happened
when we met Kevyn Major Howard and Jim Tyson
on Friday. You may recognize Kevyn’s name from the movie Full
Metal Jacket, in which he played Rafterman. Kevyn is the
president and founder of Fueled By The Fallen, a
non-profit organization developed to both honor and pay tribute to
the United States Service Members who lost their lives fighting for
the freedom of others. Jim has been involved in drag racing forever,
having built the Top Alcohol funny car that was driven by Ashley Force
and Eric Medlen for their licensing at Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing
School, and was the clutch specialist for Alan Bradshaw’s blown
alcohol dragster in 2004. Jim is also a life member of The Vietnam
Veterans Of America, Chapter 641, the Memorial Wall washing crew.
Kevyn created The Fueled By The Fallen American Road Tour to epitomize our soldiers’ sacrifices. The funds raised in conjunction with the team are being distributed to the families who have lost sons, daughters, husbands, and wives in the War on Terrorism. It is their mission to give back to the families of our fallen heroes and create awareness of those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the defense of freedom. Their current vehicles consist of The Marines nitro funny car driven by Cory Lee, the U.S. Navy nitro funny car (a tribute to the USS Enterprise) driven by Gage Chaffee, and a stable of ET-bracket style doorslammers built by Chuck Spiker of Glendale, CA. Look for an in-depth article on Fueled By The Fallen here soon. For more information now, visit www.fueledbythefallen.com. We saw some old friends, made some new friends, and watched some great Sportsman racing (unfortunately not so for the Pro classes, where it was left-lane or no lane). Hope you like the photo journal. |
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The
Fueled By The Fallen nitro funny car in the pits on
Friday. The sheer number of fallen soldiers' names on the car is humbling. |
That's
Fueled By The Fallen President & Founder Kevyn
Major Howard between Stephanie and me. |
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E-town's
lanes were jamming with Super Comp racers going for the Wally... |
....including
local Super Comp racer Bob Kopack. Hiya, Bob! |
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Too
bad for KJ, this is the closest he came to holding
a Wally this weekend. |
Some
racers will use ANY vehicle to pull a trailer! |
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That's
Super Street racer Sean Conway, his wife Jess
and their new Jr. Dragster reflecting on Sean's Camaro's mirror-like
paint job. |
What
this guy did NOT have to say to anyone: "I'm in the green shirt.
No, not at the wall. Halfway up, in the stands. No, the GREEN shirt!"
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Lots
of wheels-up action in Stock Eliminator's first round on Friday night. |
You
could've guessed that I'd love a stocker 1964 Dodge. |
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Sunday
started out cloudy and damp, but the Hell On Wheels
bicycle team got things going. Talk about Foot Break class. |
Top
Fuel racer Antron Brown came home to New Jersey for
the event, and was surrounded by fans the whole time. |
Photos:
Stephanie Youngman / Bob Beucler..................................................(Continued
here...) |
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