Father doesn't let paralysis stop him from working on son's race car
Back in March 2001, Bryan Alvarez was taking his young son Daniel dirt biking when disaster struck. A crash broke Bryan’s spine and left him paralyzed below the knees.
Fast-forward 15 years, and 51-year-old Bryan and his wife Sharon can still be found out at various racetracks, helping their son Daniel advance his racing career.
However, Bryan isn’t just there for moral support, as he’s often found helping Daniel work on his car as well.
“There’s really nothing I don’t think he can’t do,” explained Daniel, who often has fellow racers and mechanics come up to him, describing his father’s acts as “inspirational.”
“He can do it all, he can do setup… he’s got really good at bodywork this year, because we’ve had some back luck and knocked the nose off twice and he strips the whole car down and puts new noses on it.”
Daniel began in dirt racing before moving up to asphalt. In 2013, the family’s effort helped Daniel earn the title of Anderson Motor Speedway Rookie of the Year while, in 2014, they made 39 races between Anderson and Greenville-Pickens Speedways in South Carolina, earning Daniel the title of Rookie of the Year at Greenville-Pickens.
Bryan Alvarez has been helping his son Daniel advance in his racing career since he began in dirt racing.
Daniel, now 24, moved to Florida in 2015. However, he decided to keep his race car up in South Carolina, even though it meant making a nine-hour trip back from Florida to have enough time to work on the car Thursday and Friday before taking it to the track on Saturday.
So when Daniel’s motor broke during a qualifying run for a Limited Late Model race two weeks ago at Greenville-Pickens Speedway, he was left travelling back to Florida making phone calls to try and arrange to get someone to take his motor out.
“I was calling around, trying to get some help from different guys to arrange for them to come over there and take a motor out ‘cos I was in Florida, I was just going to pay them a bit of money to get the motor out so we can send it to the engine guy.
“And on Monday afternoon my dad called me and said ‘hey, I got the motor out.’”
Daniel paused.
“‘You got the motor out?’
“‘I got the motor out.’
“As much as I know he can do pretty much anything… he pulled that motor out by himself, with no help from anybody else.
“It might have taken him all day but he pulled that car apart and got the motor out by himself and that’s pretty remarkable for someone in a wheelchair to accomplish.”
Daniel has only been able to make three races so far in 2016 but hopes that, with his father’s support, he will able to make more Limited Late Model races at Greenville-Pickens throughout the rest of the season.
“He’s not just hanging out watching stuff going on, he’s making stuff happen.”
Daniel and Bryan Alvarez seen ahead of a late model race at Anderson Motor Speedway in South Carolina.
