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motoring September, 2013 Voyager Media Publications, Inc. The Joliet Bugle The Plainfield Enterprise The Shorewood Sentinel www.buglenewspapers.com
INSIDEFeatures n Cover Story Fast Forward Race Cars > pages 1 & 2
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Plainfield race car builder celebrates 15th anniversary
A
aron Stapleton learned a valuable lesson early: Driving a fast car means more than just possessing a powerful engine under the hood. He has since translated that knowledge into a business that has flourished for more than a decade. Stapleton is celebrating the 15-year anniversary of his business, Fast Forward Race Cars, Inc., in Plainfield, which builds race cars, street cars and rods, pro street racers, muscle cars and roll cages, as well as provides custom tin work, header design, and custom welding, machining and tubebending services. In just 12 weeks, Stapleton is able to transform a shell of a car into fully functional racing machine, and he takes pride in each car he builds. “Even to this day, I work on
each car like it’s my own. The passion is still there,” he said.
“Even to this day, I work on each car like it’s my own. The passion is still there,” Aaron Stapleton Fast Forward Race Cars, Inc.
Fast Forward builds everything from top sportsman to prostock vehicles and fabricates parts for all those vehicles.
The race car designer has always had a penchant for cars. “When I was little, my parents had a 1970 Chevelle. I was fascinated by it,” Stapleton said. “I think that’s what got me in the direction I was going.” Stapleton’s real passion for race cars grew from his days a freshman in shop class at Romeoville High School. By the time he was 16, Stapleton was racing, and he knew he wanted to build his own race car. He chose a 1969 Camaro. Despite modifying the motor on the Camaro, Stapleton realized that merely increasing horsepower on the engine didn’t make the car go faster. Traction was the key, and it would be a lesson that he would carry Continued on page 2