Wed, 16 Sep 2009, 08:54 PM Payne to Salute Charlotte Area Firefighters with FireIce Pro Mod Race Car

Courtesy of Rob Geiger

CONCORD, N.C. -- Drag racing champion Jay Payne will pay tribute to the 1,015 members of the Charlotte Fire Department at this weekend's second annual Carolina NHRA Nationals at zMax Dragway by running his beautiful 2,400-horsepower FireIce '67 Camaro Pro Mod racecar.

Just as he has since late May when he signed FireIce Fire Suppression Gel as a major corporate sponsor, Payne will be racing primarily for the brave men and women who protect the citizens living around NHRA racetracks. This time, it's the Charlotte Fire Department, an organization that's been serving the city for 164 years.

"Picking up FireIce as a sponsor has been such a blessing," Payne said. "It's turned into something that goes far beyond racing. Firefighters have this camaraderie, this brotherhood that transcends anything I've encountered before. To have these men and women come to the races and support us is quite an honor. It motivates us like nothing else.

"Showing our colors is the most obvious way of letting everyone know how important firefighters are to what we're doing, but nothing compares to a winner's circle celebration with a bunch of blue shirts in there with us. The good news is I think we have a really decent chance of winning this thing."

FireIce is a non-toxic, environmentally-friendly fire suppression gel that firefighters add to water in pumper trucks, helicopters, fire planes, and handheld extinguishers to help put out fires much quicker than with water alone. Aside from sponsoring Payne's racecars and saluting firefighters through its association with his race team, FireIce, a subsidiary of GelTech Solutions Inc., a publically-traded corporation (OTCBB: GLTC), is a corporate partner to the Fallen Firefighters Foundation, which helps firefighters in need.

Payne, a national champion with an additional 11 divisional titles to his credit, has driven both the FireIce Pro Mod car and the FireIce Top Alcohol Funny Car this year. He's decided to drive just one of his cars in Charlotte to better his chances at winning the event.

"Our main focus is representing the nation's 1.1 million firefighters to the best of our abilities and I think by concentrating on one car at a time we have a better chance of doing well," said Payne, who last raced the Pro Mod car two weeks ago in Indianapolis. "We were on our way in Indy if not for an issue with the tires, which we've since fixed. We're ready to race and meet some new friends in Charlotte."

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