FDNY gets salute from world champion Payne
ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. (June 12) -- The 15,000 members of the vaunted
350-year-old Fire Department of New York (FDNY) will be saluted by world
champion drag racer Jay Payne via his FireIce Top Alcohol Funny Car at
this weekend's 40th annual United Association NHRA SuperNationals at Old
Bridge Township Raceway Park.
Payne only recently added FireIce as the title sponsor of his 260-mph
hot rod but he's already felt the embrace of firefighters from
coast-to-coast.
"I've always admired and respected our nation's firefighters and to have
a car that is designed to basically say 'thanks for all you do' is a
really cool thing for our team," Payne said. "There are firefighters all
over the country so we have a built-in fanbase everywhere we go, and
New York City has one of the largest departments in the world so we're
really excited to be here with our new 'teammates.'"
Aside from sponsoring Payne's racecar, FireIce, a subsidiary of
GelTech, a publically traded corporation (OTCBB: GLTC), has committed
to making sizable donations to the Fallen Firefighters Foundation and
the Federation of Burn Foundations who frequently come to the aid of the
300,000 firefighters in this country, including all the FDNY members.
"It's important for GelTech and FireIce to make a difference in the
lives of the firefighters and their families, specifically the ones that
need our help," said Michael Cordani, CEO of GelTech. "These men and
women literally put their lives on the line for all of us every day and
when they get hurt, or God forbid, lose their lives in the line of duty,
we need to remember the sacrifices they made and take care of them and
their families.
"The Fallen Firefighters Foundation and the Federation of Burn
Foundations do a remarkable job of taking care of the firefighters that
need help so we support their efforts. Sure, we're promoting our product
through this association with drag racing, but even FireIce itself helps
make firefighters safer. It's something that's very near and dear to
us."
FireIce is a non-toxic, environmentally-friendly fire suppression gel
that firefighters add to the water in pumper trucks, helicopters, fire
planes, and handheld extinguishers to help extinguish fires drastically
quicker than water alone. "The quicker a fire is extinguished, the
quicker the firefighters are out of harm's way," Cordani said.
As a driver, Payne earned his first national championship in 1995
and has 11 divisional crowns to his credit, including the last five
Southeast Division titles in a row. He's also a JEGS Allstars champion
and his 36 national event victories ranks him a lofty 24th on NHRA's
all-time list, which dates back to 1951.
"I'm not even going to let myself think about how cool it would be to
win one in honor of the FDNY, but that's exactly what we're going to try
and do this weekend," Payne said.
-credit: jpPR
