HydroWarrior Makes His Car Racing Dreams a Reality
Mark Dingman has been a NASCAR fan for as long as he can remember. But he never thought he would ever get to drive a race car. That all changed when he discovered the SimPossible Racing League.
The SimPossible Racing League is an online racing simulator created for people living with disabilities. Mark discovered the SimPossible Racing League a few years ago and is one of 43 race car drivers participating in the SimPossible 500 on Sept. 14. Mark is partnering with the Hydrocephalus Association (HA) on the race and will use his car as a way to help raise awareness about hydrocephalus and to fundraise for HA.
Mark and his wife Katy live in Central Minnesota.
“I love what SimPossible is doing. It gives people with disabilities hope that they can do something this big. I thought what better way to raise awareness of my condition on such a big stage! That’s why I wanted to partner with HA and do something special,” Mark explained.
Mark was born with hydrocephalus and had his first brain surgery to have a shunt placed when he was just two days old. Fast forward to today and the 26-year-old has endured over 30 brain surgeries. This year alone, he underwent six surgeries due to a shunt malfunction.
For Mark, the SimPossible race not only allows him a chance to do something he’s always wanted to do, it also provides is a great way to meet other car racing enthusiasts who are living with difficult health conditions.
“It allows me to experience what the real race car drivers experience and to race with my friends as well,” Mark said. “The commonality of having some type of physical or mental disability brought us all together and we all get along really well.”
Mark’s race car features HA and #NOMOREBS logos.
The online racing simulator is no joke. The experience is very similar to driving a real race car and the same race tracks used by NASCAR are scanned in and used in the race. The one major difference is that it’s all done via a computer. NASCAR drivers use the same program for testing and practice.
The SimPossible 500 Race will be live streamed on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6zt4fJcgA0. The race will begin at 12 pm EST on Sept. 14th.