Blind Racer Dan Parker Is Building a 2008 C6 Corvette to Set New Speed Record

Born in a family of racers, Parker says he’s been driving and riding all his life. He wasn’t about to let a thing like going blind stop him from doing what he liked.

In 2012, he lost his sight. One year later, he was already back in the game, breaking records. This year, he aims to set a new blind speed record, beating the previous one set in 2013 by Mike Newman, of 200.9 mph. Parker will be doing that in a modified 2008 C6 Corvette, which he’s building with help from his friends.

According to CarAndDriver, it could be that Parker’s attempt will go down this fall. No official date for the attempt has been made public as of the time of writing.

In the meantime, he’s training and constantly working on the Corvette, which has been recently painted in the same color as the ‘Vette he crashed in. He’s raising money for what he calls his “backyard project, but not with backyard technology” by manufacturing pens and razor holders all on his own, and selling them online.

Parker, as you can see, is the very example of motivation, of a steel will and the drive to move past what others would see a tragedy or, at the very least, a downside. Or, as he puts it on his official website, “I’m not a blind man trying to race. I’m a racer who went blind.”

As a blind racer, he will do everything in his power to get back in the saddle.

The car he will attempt to set the new record in was bought as a salvage car, with no engine or interior, for cheap.

“I knew the C6 platform was just a great platform, period,” Parker tells the publication. “In the back of my mind, I went out in a Corvette and I'm making my comeback in a Corvette.”

Friend Patrick Johnson designed a custom guidance system that Parker has already used in setting two records at Bonneville: first-ever blind man to race a motorcycle in 2013 and a class record with no exemption at blindness in 2014. It uses automated audio cues to keep Parker near the centerline; if he goes 20 feet off it, the car shuts down, and if he goes over 150 mph, the parachute is automatically deployed.

Other than that, he receives no human assistance during the straightaways. The human assistance comes in before the actual drive, when his team do a test drive to establish the points that form the centerline.

The ‘Vette has been modified to help Parker reach the goal of 210 mph he would need to set the new world record, he tells the same publication. Among modifications, he lists the engine that makes 570 rear-wheel horsepower (before nitrous), the nitrous kit from Induction Solutions, full roll cage, two fire systems, Stroud Safety seatbelts, and the parachute. Perhaps the most important modification is the installation of three mufflers, allowing Parker to hear the cues from the guiding system.

As he’s preparing for the final attempt at the new blind speed record, Parker has already tested the car and the technology, hitting 153.8 mph at Spaceport America in New Mexico, in February this year.

“You can make excuses, or you can make it happen” is another one of Parker’s mottos. He also refers to himself as the “blind machinist” and is an uplifting example of how you can overcome whatever obstacles may come your way with plenty of drive and determination, and support from the rest of the world.