FOLLOW A DREAM TEAM MAKES FINAL ROUND APPEARANCE AT O’REILLY SPRING NATIONALS

Marstons Mills, MA – March 30, 2009–The Follow A Dream Top Alcohol Funny Car team continues to improve with each appearance.  Driver Marty Nothstein piloted the teams Permatex/Wynn’s/Texas Roadhouse 2008 Chevrolet Impala SS Top Alcohol Funny Car to a second place finish at this past weekend’s NHRA O’Reilly Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park in Baytown, Texas.

The team lost in the final round of competition to Steve Harker.  Unfortunately, Nothstein came up on the losing end with a 5.61 to Harkers 5.63 when he red lit.

“This is obviously not the ending we wanted”, said Nothstein, who is a former Olympic Gold and Silver Medalist in track cycling.  “I’ve been an athlete competing at the highest levels and have experienced some incredible highs and lows but, the feeling I had after clicking on the red light was one of the worst feelings I’ve ever experienced in all the time I’ve spent in competitive sports.”

“That’s racing,” added Jay Blake, team owner and crew chief of the Follow A Dream race team.  “The entire team worked really hard all weekend to get us to our first final of the season.” “Not our last though, as we’re getting closer and getting a better handle on the car with every run.”

Nothstein qualified third behind first place qualifier Harker and Chris Foster during Friday and Saturday’s two-run qualification rounds, and then beat Lee Callaway in the first elimination round late Saturday afternoon.  Nothstein then beat Steve Gasparrelli in the quarterfinals and Chris Foster in the semifinals.  Nothstein’s round one pass was the best of the season for the Follow a Dream team with an elapsed time of 5.609 seconds and a speed of 257.48 MPH. 

“Overall, it was a very good weekend and I’m very pleased with the progress we’ve made as a team,” said Nothstein.  “The team did an awesome job and I have a lot of confidence in the guys and the car.”

The O’Reilly Spring Nationals NHRA sportsman finals will be broadcast April 4, 2009 @ 10:00AM ET on ESPN2.

Follow A Dream will return to racing at the Northeast Division 1 season opener at Virginia Motorsports Park in Petersburg, Virginia on May 1-2, 2009.

About Follow A Dream

Established in 1999, Follow A Dream is a non-profit 501(C)3 organization. The organization’s message is uniquely delivered through NHRA drag racing as its medium. As racing’s only totally blind, race crew chief, Follow A Dream Founder, Jay Blake draws upon his personal experience of overcoming adversity and achieving his dream of auto racing, and shares his inspiration with others.  For more information go to http://www.followadream.org.