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| Aug 10, 2008 |
| Thunder Hill Speedway Aug 8, 2009 |
| Hello race fans. Saturday night found team Dowdy at Thunder Hill Raceway again. This was a special night for us, as our division was racing for $1000 to win. I didn�t quite hold up to my usual low digit draw. I pulled a 66 this week. However this week we were qualify for the feature. And Mark did say he didn�t want to be first out to qualify. If you are a regular at "The Hill", you know that they like to keep the track black and slick. However this week Wayne and crew decided to plow the track up and soak it in water. Well that made the track fast... AND ROUGH!
After qualifying a few cars loaded up rather to chance tearing the cars up. Mark said it was no different than a regular night at Butler Speedway in Michigan. Except it was fast as well as rough. ha,ha,ha... Mark ended up Qualifying in the 10th position. That locked us into the feature and we didn�t have to run a heat race. So during the intermission the track officials decided to work on the track. The Grader was brought out and work began. After the work was completed the Late Models were brought out to practice on it... And boy did they get it right. These guys were hauling the mail!! When Mark returned back to the trailer he said the car is good...Leave it alone. The feature saw the #88D Waterloo Market & Grill, D&R Hardware, Tasca Mustang line up in the 5th row on the outside. The green flag fell and the cars fired to life. The guys wasted little time getting up to speed. These cars were really moving tonight on this track. Many times turning faster laps racing than what they qualified!! After a couple of quick cautions and some very good racing. Mark had the #88D car into the 4th position by lap 10. As the top 5 cars had broke away from the rest of the field. He then set his sites on passing the 4G car of Grant Helms. Mark could see that Grant was glued to the bottom of the track so he rolled to the outside and was making his move coming down the backstretch. He was up to the outside rear fender of the 4G when disaster struck. For no apparent reason, Mark went sailing off of turn 3 at full speed!! I mean he was flying, literally!! We had no idea what had happened. The track instantly threw the red flag...this was a scary thing to see. The track safety crew finally found the #88D car out passed the parking lot and into the wooden fence that borders the parking lot and the county road. He was nearly 300 yards from the track. The amazing part is that Mark had narrowly missed several parked cars and cleared a 6 foot ditch that separates the parking lot from the track! It truly was the best scenario of what could have been a very bad situation. The car looked terrible at first. But after getting it to the trailer it wasn�t so bad. On Sunday we unloaded the car. Mark, new crew members Jim and Megan Smith, and myself tore the car down and found out what happened. Mark said when he tried to turn into the corner that the steering locked up. Well the water pump that we just installed 3 weeks ago came apart and threw all the belts off. Because of the special controls on our Tasca Mustang we have a very HI ratio steering system. This allows Mark to make a full sweep of the steering without crossing his arms with the Indy type steering wheel. Without the power steering the car is virtually impossible to turn. Many thought Mark had a stuck throttle. That was not the case. In fact Mark said he had hit the kill switch while still in the air from leaving the track. Team Dowdy will not be racing this weekend. As we are going to Indiana to see some old friends and help Dana move back into her dorm at Ball State University. Upon our return home the plan is to return to North Alabama Speedway for a normal program and then back to The Hill to get tuned in for the next special show they are having in September. Shelly out... P.S. Don�t forget about the Dowdy Racing shirts we have for sale. Info is on the home page!!!! Shelly out... |
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Shelly & Jim Smith changing the gears before the feature |
Mark chatting with friends |
| Well gang. Last Saturday, (Aug 29) was one to forget. The night started out with me drawing a 52 for our line up...A 52!!! So we knew we would start somewhere near the back of our heat. Mark went out for hotlaps, (practice), and after 3 laps he pulled to the infield and we thought "Uh-oh". After the session he drove back to the trailer and he was soaking wet!! The darn water pump bolts loosened up AGAIN!! That is twice in 4 weeks that has happened. When it does it sprays water EVERYWHERE!!
So Sleepy got that fixed and we went out for the heat race. I was right. We started 6th out of 8 cars. Mark went to work quick and shot into third, (top 3 transfer to the front of the feature). After he got there he kinda settled in and finished there. After getting back to the trailer we found out there was still water spraying. It was hitting the air filter and causing it to stumble. So Sleepy went back to work. We lined up in the feature and figured this would be good. The green flag dropped and Mark looked good for the first 2 laps. Running 4th and then he missed his mark entering turn 1 and pushed bad. He fell back to 6th. Then on lap 6 Mark was passing the 4 car of Grant Helms. Going down the front stretch, Grant ran us right up to the wall. Mark couldn�t get out of the way fast enough. It broke some stuff in the back of the car and let the rear-end shift. This caused the drive shaft to break. So we were done for the night. All this was on a night that Mark's father Lloyd was in attendance. Lloyd is 79 years old and had never been to a race in his life. He had never watched Mark compete in anything. Football, wrestling, racing, Nothing. Well we had hoped he would see the joy of racing... He didn�t. But he did see a lot of the men from his local coffee shop there. And he found out that this stuff aint all that bad. He said he may go again next week. A side note....Mark and I were in North Indiana a few weeks ago. While we were there the folks at Parkview Hospital asked Mark to come talk to them about a small story they wanted to do. So Mark spent an hour or two with the folks at Parkview. These are the people that helped him get up and going after his wreck. If it weren�t for the great treatment Mark & I received at Parkview. I'm not sure how we would have ended up. Anyway, I am attaching the story and the photo that accompanied it. I hope you all enjoy it. Don�t forget, if you haven�t signed the guestbook yet, please do. We love hearing from ya'll Michelle out... |
| Thunder Hill Speedway Aug 29, 2009 |
| Former rehab patient is back in the driver�s seat
When Mark Dowdy awoke on May 15, 2008, his life changed dramatically. Two days before, he had been riding his motorcycle from his Angola, Ind., home to his job near Cromwell, Ind. When the rear wheel of his bike locked up, he skidded sideways into the path of an oncoming pickup truck. The truck ran over him, breaking all the ribs on his right side, crushing his twelfth thoracic vertebra, and severing his spinal cord. Rushed to Parkview Hospital�s Emergency Department, Dowdy had spinal fusion surgery the next day. Bars were implanted to brace between hip and shoulder blade, and others were added for lateral reinforcement. Dowdy spent a month in inpatient rehab. Like most people who have spinal cord injuries, his first reaction to his condition was denial. A successful late-model stock car racer who competed at dirt tracks throughout the Midwest, he didn�t want to face physical limitation. �At first, you ask, �Why me?�� said Dowdy, �but I realized I�d been lucky when I saw how people who had head injuries were struggling with their rehab. I hadn�t been wearing a helmet. Funny thing is, I wear the best protective gear when I race.� Physical therapist Doug Helsom sensed that Dowdy�s tenacity would serve him well in rehab. �I wish all my patients approached their rehab with the same determination that Mark brought every day,� said Helsom. �He was nauseous and in immense pain, and the TLSO (a hard-sided torso brace) he wore really inhibited movement. But he worked through it. By the time he left, he�d done 90 percent of what he needed to do.� Dowdy�s rehab progress was crucial. While in the hospital, he lost his job and his insurance coverage. Seven to eight weeks of prescribed outpatient rehab was financially out of the question. �Parkview let me stay, and the people were great to me and my girlfriend,� said Dowdy, �From the nursing assistant who checked me during the night to the people I worked with in the gym, everyone wanted to help. They were really supportive.� Dowdy has since moved to Alabama to be near family, but stays in touch with Helsom. He has added his own rehab exercises, as well as techniques from people with disabilities he has met on the racing circuit. The Parkview-provided wheelchair has been replaced by a titanium-and-aluminum chair, a gift from the foundation of a fellow paralyzed racer. The eldest of Dowdy�s two daughters, has decided to study nursing at Ball State University. An experienced fabrication engineer, Dowdy has fitted his racecar with hand controls of his own design, with the help of his Dowdy Racing team. On May 30, 2009, he returned to racing, a �rugged, demanding� sport he�s loved since his teenage years. Dowdy has impressed race fans and acquired a loyal following among people with disabilities. Getting back into the driver�s seat has helped him appreciate the support and encouragement he�s received. �At first, I was the paralyzed guy who was racing. Now I�m just the guy in Number 88. That�s all I�ve wanted to be, like I was before � just a contender.� |
| Sept 3, 2009 |
| Parkview Memorial Hospital Aug 17, 2009 |
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| Photo cutline: Physical therapist Doug Helsom, Parkview Hospital Rehabilitation Center (left), spends time with former patient Mark Dowdy, who visited Parkview Hospital in mid-August. Dowdy, who sustained a spinal cord injury in a traffic accident in spring 2008, has returned to his favorite sport -- dirt-track stock car racing -- despite lower-body paralysis. He credits Helsom and other inpatient rehab staff members for giving him support that "made it impossible not to overcome the situation." |
| Sept 9, 2009 |
| Thunderhill Speedway Sept 5, 2009 North Alabama Speedway Sept 6, 2009 |
| Hello race fans Shelly here....I just wanted to give a warm thanks to all our friends, family, and supporters as well. We couldn't have done it without all of you. I also want to thank Mark. You are the best...I am so proud of you for never giving up. You have come so far in such a short period of time. I know I don't say it nearly as often as I should. I know you get frustrated and discouraged....but dont EVER give up. You are such a great man and have so much talent for racing that I honestly believe you will be back on top again and SOON. I love you baby. Michelle out.... |
| Hello folks, Mark here. I decided I would write this week�s race update myself. We had what you would call a TERRIBLE weekend. Saturday night started out as a good night at the Thunder Hill raceway. We had my father, Lloyd along again as a VIP guest of Wayne Burns, the owner of the track. Wayne treated my Dad to a very special gesture. He brought him in the gate for free and gave him a VIP tower to set in during the races. This was incredible, as it was only my Dads 2nd time ever at a race. However Wayne and I have raced against each other in Super Late Models for years. And Wayne new my Dad was not a race fan AT ALL!! So he did this for him... Wayne, I appreciate all you have done. Thank You!!
We fired up the Waterloo Market & Grille, #88D, Tasca ford Mustang and went out for hot laps. While completing the second lap the car stumbled, sputtered and shut off. After being pushed back to the trailer, Sleepy discovered that something had gone wrong with the MSD system. We spent the next 2 1/2 hours trying to figure out what. Well we couldn't find the bug and loaded the car. This is the first year I have run an MSD system. I was talked into it and told that it delivers better power than the others. However I was always worried about all the wiring and components involved. Just too much to go wrong, and it did!!! Sunday morning Gary Jones came over and brought with him a trusty HEI system out of his modified. We installed the HEI in no time and BAM!!! The #88D fired to life! I ran HEI for years and never had trouble with them. I have also used a MAG and never had troubles. Both systems are very simple and very easy to operate so we loaded up and went to North Alabama. It was the final leg for the Bama Super Series and there were a lot of cars there. Especially in the Super and Limited divisions. Shelly drew a 23 at NAS and that started us on the second row, outside. After the green fell we had moved to 3rd for awhile. But then while running the cushion I jumped over it! So I fell back to 8th spot. After regaining control, I gained a couple spots back and finished 6th. We then started 6th row, inside in the feature. The green flag fell and we had been running about 6th or 7th. Then on lap 12, while running down the front stretch. The steering quickner on the car broke. That sent the car into the front stretch wall. The damage is very heavy and the car is hurt pretty badly. So I have made the decision that we will end our race season for 2009. We have had 3 weeks of bad luck and it�s getting worse. I am very pleased with the way 2009 worked out however. We did something that I was told "Can�t be done". And I was accepted back into the racing family with open arms... Neil Scott of Waterloo Market and Grille was a big supporter of the team, and we thank him a bunch. Also big thanks go out to Doug Herbert and Allison Lush of Doug Herbert performance for the wonderful shirts they provided us with. The sales of the shirts help us pay for fuel, pit passes and such. I need to thank Shelly's family for their support and help. My friends up north that always ask for race updates every weekend. You guys are terrific. Dennis Brewer, you don't realize how much I appreciate your help. I know when you have had time to concentrate on my "Hot Rod" I am in the best prepared race car every week. Hopefully you can get more time at the shop next season buddy. Rodney Russell, I appreciate your help when it was needed. Doug McElroy, Thank you for your assistance with great prices and products. Big Bill Chrisman, for the late night chats that let me knows you understand. And the help you can provide from so far away. Your insight and help has been very valuable. My final thanks have to go out to Michelle (Shelly). Without you, none of this would be possible. You have been my rock by my side through all of this. I'm telling you folks, she is in the shop when we need to be. Sometimes late at night or after she has had a terrible day. Busting her nails and cutting herself often. Helping me load the car, and also mounting and dismounting tires. (Yeah guys... She does it). And then when it�s all done you do the cooking, cleaning and general stuff we all take for granted... You make this a wonderful home we live in and you put up with a lot.... I love you Shell. And "thank you" doesn't sound like enough... So we may be done racing for the 2009 season, but we are not done working. We have already started talks with some companies about sponsorship opportunities for the 2010 season. I love all the fans that tell me I "Inspire" them. I love meeting and talking with the fans that have faced life changing events like mine. I was told I couldn't race anymore... I am racing again. A DIRT LATE MODEL... But I didn't do it alone. And we can�t continue to do it without help in 2010. So keep close by folks, we may just keep on "Shocking Ya'll"!! Thank you Mark Dowdy #88D |