INSIDE
SPORTS Dons, Wolves remain unbeaten PAGE 13
MOTORING Area race car builder celebrates 15th anniversary
NEWS Police seek man who tried to lure student into car
INSIDE
PAGE 2
FREE motoring
September,
Voyager Media
2013
Publications, Inc.
The Joliet Bugle The Plainfield Enterpris e The Shorewo od Sentinel www.buglenewspa pers.com
INSIDEFeatur n CovEr
eS
Story
Fast Forward Race Cars > pages 1 &2
n DEalEr
DIrEC
tory Car Dealersh ips in your area
Fast-
> page 3
FoRwaRdto Now Plainfield race car
A
builder cele brates 15th anniversar y
aron Stapleton lesson early: learned a valuable each car like Driving a means fast it’s powerful engine more than just possessin car there,” he said. my own. The passion is still under the hood. ga translated The race He has that car designer penchant has flourishe knowledge into a businesssince has always for d for more had a that parents had cars. “When I was than Stapleton little, my a 1970 Chevelle is celebrati a decade. by it,” Stapleton anniversary . I was fascinate ng of his business the 15-year said. “I think d me in the direction Race Cars, that’s what Inc., in Plainfield, Fast Forward got I was going.” race cars, Stapleton’s , which builds street cars real passion from his days and rods, racers, muscle for pro street a freshman race cars grew cars and roll Romeoville provides custom cages, as well High School. in shop class at as tin work, 16, Stapleton By and custom header design, was racing, the time he was welding, machinin wanted to bending services. and he knew g and tubebuild he 1969 Camaro. his own race car. He In just 12 chose a weeks, Stapleton transform Despite modifyin is able to a shell g the motor Camaro, racing machine of a car into fully Stapleton functional on the realized increasin car he builds. , and he takes pride Fast Forward that merely g horsepow in each “Even to this builds everythin er on the sportsman day, I work engine g from top make the car go faster. to prostock on parts Traction was didn’t vehicles and and it would for all those fabricates the be a lesson vehicles. that he would key, carry
“Even to this day, I work on each car like it’s my own. The passion is still there,”
Continued on page 2
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O’Hare Airport hosts event to raise money and awareness for Special Olympics Illinois
SEPTEMBER 26, 2013
Vol. 57 No. 51
PLANE
PULL
ALEX V. HERNANDEZ/STAFF REPORTER
The Park Ridge police team was able to move the plane on their first attempt.
By Alex V. Hernandez Staff Reporter
T
eams composed of high schools, churches, friends law enforcement and other groups competed to pull a 90-ton airplane 12 feet in the shortest amount of time as part of the Fifth Annual “Plane Pull” at O’Hare airport. The event is a fundraiser for the Illinois Special Olympics, with each of the 60 registered teams raising a
minimum of $1,000. Over the five years of the event’s history, more than $240,000 has been raised. “I asked my husband if he was moving a real plane when he told me about the fundraiser,” said Helen Boba, 43, of Niles. Her husband is on the Niles police department and was on the Niles plane pulling team.“I couldn’t imagine the size of the plane. I mean I thought it was going to be smaller before we got here.” The teams had to move a UPS Airbus A300 using a rope attached to the base
of the plane. “When we pulled up in the bus we all kind of looked at each other and asked, ‘Is that the plane we’re moving?,’” said Niles Police Chief Dean Strzelecki. The Sept. 21 event opened with a few short introductions by Sherman Police Chief Eric Smith that included comments from the Chicago Department of Aviation, UPS and Special Olympic Global Messengers Deming Fanslau, Matthew Williams and Nick Senase and others.
Soon the Park Ridge police department, led by team captain Julie Genualdi, began prepping for their first of what would be two attempts to pull the plane.This involved putting on heavy duty work gloves, getting into position on either side of the rope and waiting for the signal to start pulling. After some struggle at the beginning, the Park Ridge team was able to get the plane rolling, with initial reports from judges saying See PULL, page 6