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."
