BRINKLEYVILLE – Tim Totherow is a dirt track racer chasing the Brickdirt National Super Street Championship this weekend at Clary’s Speedway. Ordinarily, that would not be a surprising statement, but Totherow is no ordinary dirt tracker, he will be driving with a handicap.

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 Totherow, 41, has driven race cars since he was 18 years old, so he knows how to drive a dirt track race car. His driving career was unfortunately sidetracked in May of 2006, when a construction accident left him an incomplete paraplegic.

 “Because my spinal cord wasn't severed, I have a good chance at regaining some use of my legs. I will never be able to return to construction, but with vocational retraining, I can hopefully return to another line of work,” Totherow explained.

During the intensive physical therapy that followed, he suffered another emotional blow when his father lost a long battle with cancer and died on Sept. 19 of that same year.

Losing his father, who had inspired and nurtured his love for racing, actually further inspired Totherow to work harder towards rehabilitation.

 “Watching his ‘never give up’, ‘never complain’ attitude has inspired me to not only conquer my disability, but to do what he and my entire family have enjoyed for so long; race!” Totherow said.

 He and his team will make the nine-hour “pull” from his home in Tennessee to Clary’s Speedway. Racers call the trip a “pull” because you are pulling a racecar trailer behind you the entire way.

While their goal is the same as all the other drivers coming to Clary’s this weekend — to win, Totherow is a realist. He knows some of the best drivers on the East Coast will be at Clary’s for the second annual Brickdirt National Super Street Championship.

 With multiple heat wins this year, the team feels confident they have a good chance at making the race and maybe even a shot at a top five finish in The Brickdirt Nationals.

 “We want to compare our Super Street program with the best in the country, to see how we stack up and what better place than Clary’s, because we know the heavy hitters will be there,” he said.

 The winner of the event will be crowned the new Super Street National Champion. The Super Street class is a limited preparation class that often draws some of the best drivers because with the engine horsepower and chassis setup restrictions, racing expenses are much more reasonable than the more expensive Limited Late Model and Super Late Model classes.

 Dirt track racing fans also like the class because other than the huge tires, the super street cars look more like the actual cars they drive every day on the road than any of the fiberglass-bodied, late-model dirt track cars.

 Tim and the team invite everyone to stop by his paddock area and say hello. “We look forward to having a great time and eating some of those hot dogs at the cookout on Friday night, we’ve read so much about.”

Totherow was referring to the Carolina Packers Hot Dog Eating Contest that is part of the two-day event. He will not be competing in that one, he said with a laugh.

If you go: The gates open at 4 p.m. on Friday at Clary’s Speedway in Brinkleyville and racing starts at 7 p.m. Saturday, the gates open at noon and the racing begins at 2 p.m.