Miss-Delectable
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NASCAR at Pocono: NASCAR race at Pocono and Coplay boy will sign The Star-Spangled Banner at Pocono Raceway - mcall.com
At NASCAR events, cars race by the grandstand at more than 150 mph, the sound deafening, drowning out the screams of the 100,000-plus appreciative fans.
This weekend, at Pocono Raceway, 13-year-old Carl Bradshaw of Coplay will be right there in the thick of the action, standing next to the winner's podium. But in his mostly silent world, he will hear little of what's going on.
Carl will communicate with the crowd, however, as he opens the weekend events surrounding the Good Sam RV Insurance 500 at Long Pond by signing — not singing — "The Star-Spangled Banner."
Carl, who is deaf, has signed the national anthem before, at minor league baseball and hockey events. He's never done it solo, as he will before Saturday's Truck Series race at 1 p.m. and Sunday's Sprint Cup race, also at 1 p.m. onESPN.
When Carl was 21/2, he lapsed into a coma after coming down with bacterial meningitis, a potentially serious infection that affects the brain and spinal cord. It left him with brain damage, and he lost his hearing.
Doctors tried to restore some hearing by implanting a cochlear impact, but not only did the device hurt Carl, it didn't really help, said his mother, Jenn Mink.
Still, he has done well inside and outside the classroom, said Dan Rhoten, director of marketing and development at the Scranton School for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing Children, where Carl just finished seventh grade. Carl boards there, coming home Fridays after school and heading back Monday mornings.
"He's one of our best students," Rhoten said. "He's gone around helping individuals in need. He's done soup kitchens, cleanups … . His peers look up to him."
The school actively seeks out opportunities for its students to participate in the community. When the school contacted Pocono Raceway, officials were more than happy to have Carl be part of the weekend's events, Rhoten said.
It's fitting that Carl's solo outing happens to be at his favorite sporting event, car racing. Mink said her son's interest came from growing up in a family of NASCAR enthusiasts.
"My parents watched it, I watch it, he grew up watching it," she said.
Carl's favorite driver is Carl Edwards, who has a signature move he does when he's won a race, catapulting off his car into a back somersault. The two share the same first name, but there's another reason Carl lists Edwards as his favorite.
"He's a really good driver," Carl said with his fingers and hands.
Carl's hoping he'll get to see the flip in person when he sees his racing idol. That thought is actually more exciting for Carl than the reason he'll be there in the first place.
At his house two days before his performances — as he worked on math word problems with Julie Friedrich, a teacher with the Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit for deaf and hard of hearing students — Carl proudly showed off the front of his white No. 99 T-shirt, the number of his favorite driver.
Organizers haven't told Mink how the whole day will go, only that before Sunday's race, Carl will get the chance to shake the hand of every driver. Like Carl, she's hoping he gets to spend at least a little personal time with Edwards.
"That would be the highlight of the weekend," Mink said. "He wouldn't even care about performing."
At NASCAR events, cars race by the grandstand at more than 150 mph, the sound deafening, drowning out the screams of the 100,000-plus appreciative fans.
This weekend, at Pocono Raceway, 13-year-old Carl Bradshaw of Coplay will be right there in the thick of the action, standing next to the winner's podium. But in his mostly silent world, he will hear little of what's going on.
Carl will communicate with the crowd, however, as he opens the weekend events surrounding the Good Sam RV Insurance 500 at Long Pond by signing — not singing — "The Star-Spangled Banner."
Carl, who is deaf, has signed the national anthem before, at minor league baseball and hockey events. He's never done it solo, as he will before Saturday's Truck Series race at 1 p.m. and Sunday's Sprint Cup race, also at 1 p.m. onESPN.
When Carl was 21/2, he lapsed into a coma after coming down with bacterial meningitis, a potentially serious infection that affects the brain and spinal cord. It left him with brain damage, and he lost his hearing.
Doctors tried to restore some hearing by implanting a cochlear impact, but not only did the device hurt Carl, it didn't really help, said his mother, Jenn Mink.
Still, he has done well inside and outside the classroom, said Dan Rhoten, director of marketing and development at the Scranton School for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing Children, where Carl just finished seventh grade. Carl boards there, coming home Fridays after school and heading back Monday mornings.
"He's one of our best students," Rhoten said. "He's gone around helping individuals in need. He's done soup kitchens, cleanups … . His peers look up to him."
The school actively seeks out opportunities for its students to participate in the community. When the school contacted Pocono Raceway, officials were more than happy to have Carl be part of the weekend's events, Rhoten said.
It's fitting that Carl's solo outing happens to be at his favorite sporting event, car racing. Mink said her son's interest came from growing up in a family of NASCAR enthusiasts.
"My parents watched it, I watch it, he grew up watching it," she said.
Carl's favorite driver is Carl Edwards, who has a signature move he does when he's won a race, catapulting off his car into a back somersault. The two share the same first name, but there's another reason Carl lists Edwards as his favorite.
"He's a really good driver," Carl said with his fingers and hands.
Carl's hoping he'll get to see the flip in person when he sees his racing idol. That thought is actually more exciting for Carl than the reason he'll be there in the first place.
At his house two days before his performances — as he worked on math word problems with Julie Friedrich, a teacher with the Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit for deaf and hard of hearing students — Carl proudly showed off the front of his white No. 99 T-shirt, the number of his favorite driver.
Organizers haven't told Mink how the whole day will go, only that before Sunday's race, Carl will get the chance to shake the hand of every driver. Like Carl, she's hoping he gets to spend at least a little personal time with Edwards.
"That would be the highlight of the weekend," Mink said. "He wouldn't even care about performing."
