Mark's Amazing Story
On Tuesday, May 13th 2008, Mark was riding his motorcycle to
work in the early hours of the morning. While aproaching a gentle right
hand curve the rear tire of his motorcycle locked up. Witnesses reported
that they saw him wrestling with the bike to keep it upright. However it
went down and he slid across the curve on the road. Unfortunately while
in the road another driver was coming the other way. He then hit mark
head on with a Dodge ram pickup truck.
Mark awoke on Thursday of the same week to learn of his injuries. He
was left with 6 broken ribs on his right side, a punctured lung, a T-11
burst fracture of his vertebrae and a severed spinal cord. He was very
lucky to survive this accident. He had lost 3 1/2 pints of blood and was
breathing with the help of a tube that was entered into his lungs. The
doctors came into the room and informed Mark that he would never walk
again. His injury is listed as a T-11 "Complete". This means that he is
paralyzed from the waist down.
Mark accepted the fact that he would never walk again, all though not
without some difficulty. HOWEVER, Mark did not accept the fact that he
would never race again. Mark had worked to become a fairly successful
regional dirt track racer in the Great Lakes region of Michigan, Indiana
& Ohio. Winning numerous races in the IMCA & UMP modified division
during the 90's. Then switching to the Late Model division in 1999 Mark
continued to win. But Mark was very proud of the fact that he was not a
"One track" racer. He would travel from track to track every weekend and
hone his skill. From week to week you may catch him in Michigan or
Alabama, or any track in between. Mark has competed at around 112 race
tracks thru out the Midwest and the south.
So when Mark was released from the hospital, (six weeks later), he
finished his move to Northwest Alabama, (a move that had been planned
before his accident). From his shop at his home near Waterloo Alabama,
Mark began work on a way to continue to race. With the help of his
friend of many years, Dennis Brewer, and after several failed attempts.
Mark & Dennis came up with a steering wheel that will allow him to
control the throttle, Brake and steering, all without ever lifting a
hand from the wheel. The 2009 race season was to be a test & tune for
Mark and Dennis. However after about 2 months Mark became very
competitive in their new Warrior race chassis.
So that brings us to today. Mark is continuing his pursuit as a dirt
late model driver. Dennis is his crew chief, and they are a great team.
Mark is the country's FIRST EVER paralyzed Dirt Late Model driver. So
keep checking in here at Dowdyracing.com and click on the "News &
Updates" button. And find out what is the newest development with Dowdy
Racing. We will keep our race results posted their weekly as well as any
other interesting stories as they happen...
