Ricky Gonzalez Heads To
Chicagoland With ARCA
Bringing Awareness to KKH Foundation Of Great Importance
by Marty Tyler-Staff Writer
09/09/2004

Ricky Gonzalez, the handsome Hispanic powerhouse who has been working endlessly this year to find the funds that will allow him to satisfy NASCAR's track size requirements, will head to the 1.5 mile D-shaped tri-oval Chicagoland Speedway this Saturday, September 11th, for the ReadyHosting.com 200. Gonzalez has hooked up with Wayne Peterson Motorsports to pilot his #6 Chevy Monte Carlo for this event.

"I'm very excited about Chicagoland," said Gonzalez. "Peterson is great and I'm looking forward to doing the best job I can."

Gonzalez pulled double duty last weekend. In true racer fashion, he is always ready to climb behind the wheel of any type of racing machine for the thrill of competition and to keep his racing skills sharp. Chris Winter called on Ricky to drive in the ARTS event for him. Winter hit the wall at Bristol during a qualifying attempt for the NASCAR CTS O'Reilly 200 event and was unable to drive his own truck at Wall Township Speedway, due to his injuries. Because Gonzalez drove in two events that same night, he had to start in the back of the field in both events. Gonzalez finished 10th in the ARTS race. In the Legends feature, Gonzalez drove for long time friend Jimmy Tomaino's teammate, where he finished 5th. That's a pretty amazing feat considering he drove the car with a broken right front caliper.

On August 5th, Gonzalez competed in The Funkmaster Flex Super Series Invitational, hosted by Spike TV at Waterford Speedbowl. Spike TV will air their coverage of this event during the 2nd week of October. Be sure to check your local listings for exact time and date.

Additional recent racing events include the NASCAR CTS event at Mansfield Motorsports Speedway on May 16th, where he competed in the UAW/GM Ohio 250 Craftsman Truck Series event. He has also competed in 2 IPOWER Dash events, both 1/2 tracks, at Ace Speedway in Burlington, NC and The Motordrome in Pittsburg, PA where he finished 9th.

Of course, money drives the sport of racing, regardless of what series or competition level is involved. Ricky and PR Rep, Maureen Rafferty, have spent countless hours and have traveled coast to coast to lock down the funds needed for 2004 and the future. Additional NASCAR Busch, CTS and ARCA events are in the works for 2004. With so much experience to his credit, ARCA has approved Gonzalez to run any of the remaining races for 2004, including Talladega in early October. Should details for the Talladega race be worked out in time, Ricky will, once again, drive a Peterson owned car.

Looking ahead to next season, Gonzalez' goal is to compete full time in the NASCAR BGN or CTS Series. Ricky, graciously, took the time to speak with me for a few minutes before leaving for Chicago. "We're keeping our head to the grindstone and working very hard so we can get out there full time next year to show what we're really made of and perform like we should be performing," he said. "Just keep an eye on us and you're going to see some great things, I'm sure"

Sponsors for the this weekend's ReadyHosting.com 200 include MechanicsFoam.com, Spike TV, Hyper Harry and Sons, Autoeval, MOTOvation Motorsports Marketing and the KKHFoundation.org.

As reported in a previous column, the KKH Foundation holds a very special place in Ricky's heart. This organization was founded to raise funds to improve the quality of life for children living with Cystic Fibrosis, the very disease Ricky's best friend, John Fern, died of when he was just 20 years old. Additionally, Kyleen and Krysten Hyde, for whom this foundation was organized, and who both succumbed to this disease in 2003, have close family friendship ties to Gonzalez's PR agent, Maureen Rafferty.

Bringing awareness to Cystic Fibrosis and the KKH Foundation is extremely, and personally, important to Gonzalez and Rafferty. To that end they have actively allowed, and are pleased with, the inclusion of the following information for all race fans and our readers.

Kara Holzschuh, aunt to Kyleen and Krysten Hyde and one of the founders of the KKH Foundation, graciously spoke with me and explained the devastation of CF. Cystic Fibrosis is a chronic disease which affects the lungs, as well as other organs, and while there are varying degrees to the disease, there is no known cure. A victim of CF will spend a great portion of their life, sometimes weeks, in the hospital. Most CF victims do not live past their teen years. It is a devastating disease requiring Chest Physical Therapy multiple times daily to clear the lungs allowing the patient to breathe. The closet thing to a cure is an eventual lung transplant, however, the recipient must be at a certain health level to survive the surgery. Due to rapid health deterioration, Kyleen and Krysten, tragically, were not able to receive that potential life saving operation. Kyleen and Krysten died just 4 months apart at ages 18 and 15, respectively. Their family, unselfishly, is turning their grief and the spirit of these girls into something to benefit many.

One of the goals of the KKH Foundation is to renovate 3 patient rooms used for the extended stay CF patients at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York City in an effort to provide a more comfortable, private room for both the patient and their visitors. Extended hospital stays are common with CF victims and improving the comfort and personal experience of the hospitalized victim is of great importance.

Additionally, this foundation hopes, eventually, to be able to assist the families of these patients with travel, hotel accommodations and the tremendous and overwhelming medical expenses associated with CF treatment and hospitalization. Many families have to travel distances in relationship to treatment. The foundation also hopes to set up a scholarship program at some point in the future. To help raise funds, "KKH Foundation First Annual Golf Outing" is planned for Saturday September 25, 2004 at Black Bear Golf Club in Hamburg, NJ. Any interested sponsors or participants can obtain information on the foundation's website.

"To have Ricky involved like this is remarkable," said Kara. "To use his race car like this...I'm sure we were all brought together for a purpose and we are so grateful to him."

Please read more about Kyleen and Krysten, two beautiful, amazingly smart and talented young ladies at The Kyleen and Krysten Hyde Foundation .

Be sure to watch the ReadyHosting.com 200 ARCA race LIVE on Speed Channel beginning at 2 p.m. EST.

Addtional sponsor information includes:
SpikeTV.com
Mechanics Foam
autoeval.net

Good luck, Ricky and God speed!

You can reach Marty Tyler at: mtyler@catchfence.com