Wounded Warriors Get Ride of a Lifetime

They fly by at speeds faster than many of us can ever dream of going...140 150 and higher... racing turn after turn...    

On this day they're not just out to burn some rubber they're taking some very special guests for the ride of a lifetime. Guests like Marine Elmer Dinglasan...a double amputee after his humvee rolled over an anti tank mine in Iraq and Timothy Underwood a Navy Corpsman who now suffers from PTSD...  brought to together for some fun at Robeling Road Raceway.

“I think it’s very important. It’s nice to get around other wounded warriors someone who can sympathize with what you are going through. They've been through the same thing,” explains Underwood.  

Called Heroes on Track organized by John Ballentine...it’s a nationwide program that links the Porsche Club of America with Wounded Warriors.

“Its delightful when I came back from Vietnam we didn't have quite these opportunities and to see the community turn out and to sponsor these fellows it's a dream come true for me,” says Ballentine.

Warriors don't just get a ride they get the whole experience......from a class on the course and track tactics to a stop in the pit these soldiers are soon race ready...

Strapping into one of the several high power race cars ...they're soon off...

Lap after lap these troops get a feel for what its like to be on the racetrack...

An experience that feels like it’s over as soon as it begins...

“The ride was once in a lifetime thing. I’ve never been in a Porsche let alone on a racetrack going 130 mph speed,” says Dinglasan.

“It was pretty fun. We get about 140 on the straight away and about 90 to 100 on the corners it gets you sick to your stomach like a rollercoaster ride but it was fun,” says a smiling Underwood.

A pick me up for our nation’s heroes who, Wounded Warrior Project Coordinator Jonathan Pruden, explains are crucial.

 “Events like this bring warriors together at different phases in their recovery process and they are able to support each other unlike any clinician can. Often times the best support the warrior can find is in the story and camaraderie of another warrior,” says Pruden.

This is only Heroes on Track's second event.... they hope to hold events like this one throughout the country.

For more information on the program, log on to: http://www.heroesontrack.org/